


You Smiled

by prettyinterestingcompany



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-17
Updated: 2017-02-22
Packaged: 2018-06-08 23:30:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 23,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6879919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettyinterestingcompany/pseuds/prettyinterestingcompany
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“When  I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew”<br/>-Arrigo Boito</p><p>It started with a formula. It spiraled from there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Trade

**Author's Note:**

> In this AU Eobard Thawne never exists and Harrison Wells from E-2 exists in the E-1 timeline. The particle accelerator explosion still happened and gave Barry his powers. Also, this is a soulmate mark AU- if your soulmate writes on their skin it shows up on your skin.  
> Hope you enjoy!

“Still ignoring it, Cait?” Eliza questioned from behind Caitlin’s desk. The sudden voice caused Caitlin to jump, quickly covering the markings on her arm and knocking over some precariously perched files on her desk. Eliza laughed placing Caitlin’s small black coffee on a clean portion of the desk while sipping her own overpriced sugary latte. Her small turned up nose always gave Eliza a slightly mischievous look.

“I’m not ignoring it. I’m just...not acknowledging it.” The stuttered response caused a smirk to overtake Eliza’s features as she settled into her own desk. Although Caitlin loved working at Mercury Labs, the tight space might be the death of her. It breeded nosy co-workers. 

“What’s missing?” Eliza was sometimes to curious for her own good. It took a second but finally Caitlin looked up from her paperwork.

“A negative sign. A single negative sign.”

“How long ago did it show up?” 

“Six days ago.”

“And when did you figure it out?”

“Six days ago.” Eliza shook her head. 

“And you’re still ignoring it, Cait? You know HG won’t wait around forever.” Caitlin scoffed finally getting all the paperwork back on her desk. A small bit of the formula was still poking out of her sweater.

She remembered the first markings she got when she was eighteen. Everyone looked forward to getting their marks. The telltale sign that there was someone out there who was absolutely perfect for you. Most people got a marking within 24 hrs of their 18th birthday. A grocery list, a reminder of an event, or possibly even a cute doodle. Caitlin didn’t get anything for three weeks until finally out of nowhere a ridiculously long formula showed up on her arm. After showing to her mother, father, teacher, even taking a picture and posting it online, Caitlin found that the formula was actually a very advanced equation exploring the possibility of improving blood thinners.

As an avid lover of all things biological, Caitlin didn’t see much harm in writing it down and exploring the equation herself. 

Of course that was easier said than done. 

It took her ten years. Through undergraduate, graduate and a little bit of her first research position. It hit her like a rock while she was picking up coffee. The formula had forgotten to consider the blood flow. She nearly dropped the large tray of coffee she was carrying for her co-workers. The blood flow. She rushed back to work, took out the little black notebook with the formula written on it and fixed it. 

She didn’t know what to do after that. That formula had consumed her whole life. There had been other formulas written on her arms and legs over the years getting more and more complicated with every year. She herself had tried her best to avoid writing on her body since the first formula. She had long ago realized that whoever was writing on her arm was probably at least ten years older than she was. It was more than a little awkward acknowledging the considerable age gap. How could she tell whoever was on the other end of this connection that she had figured out their formula so long after they had written it down?

She did though. It took all of her confidence and not a small amount of alcohol to copy down the formula on her arm with her slight improvements. It took no more than thirty seconds for a ? to appear on her arm followed after another thirty seconds by a !. 

After that Caitlin was never without at least one formula on her arm that she could figure out. Sometimes Caitlin could tell that HG (they had given themselves the name after writing it under one of the formulas- Caitlin was still unsure if it was initials, their actual name or possibly neither) was genuinely frustrated by the formula. Other times it was clearly a test. They wanted any indication that Caitlin knew something about something. 

Caitlin was more than happy to play the game. 

She knew four things about her soulmate;  
HG was constantly writing on themselves. Caitlin had taken to wearing a number of cardigans to cover up all the markings. She also had to buy tights for the odder places that they choose to write.  
HG lived nearby. Every once in awhile there was a note about a street that Caitlin knew of or a restaurant nearby.  
HG has a daughter. Or at least a girl who they seem to have guardianship of. Many times Caitlin would smile at the mention of “Jesse” and the various tasks which HG did for her.  
HG was the worst grocery shopper of the planet. The only foods they ever marked down was Ramen Noodles and “pick up Big Belly Burger”. “Remember to eat” was also a constant mark on her arm. 

She had all the information pathetically written in a notebook on her bedside table. Caitlin knew there was a little part of her that was in love with HG and the scrawly chicken scratch they left on her arm. 

“You can’t hold a grudge forever, you know.” Eliza had moved on to type something on her laptop. Caitlin hated when Eliza had a point. 

Caitlin had tried to meet HG approximately 15 days ago...Not that she was counting. 

She had plucked up the nerve to write;  
Jitters Coffeeshop. Weds. 11am. Don’t be late. 

Putting on her favorite blue dress and spending a tiny bit longer in front of the mirror than usual, Caitlin had gone to meet HG. Letting Eliza know her destination in advance, she struck out towards Jitters at precisely 10:30am. She got there at 10:40am. Ordered herself a coffee at 10:41am to keep her hands busy. Panicked when she realized she didn’t have anyway of knowing who was HG at 10:45am. Was placated by Eliza through text at 10:47am who told her that all she had to do was watch the door for a fellow watcher. Finally, she settled down for a life changing experience at 10:55am. 

But HG didn’t show. 

She gave up around noon after getting her second free coffee from the barista who kept looking at her with pity in her eyes. Instead of going into work, Caitlin went back to her apartment and kept looking at her arm with the message in the curly cursive of her handwriting. She washed it off under warm tap water. She decided not to try again. 

“Not forever. But at least until one of us is dead.” Caitlin murmured under her breath. It was then that Caitlin felt the familiar itching on her skin. She wouldn’t look. She wouldn’t look. She wouldn’t look. 

“Oh just look, you loser.” Caitlin raised her eyebrows at Eliza who had given up any pretext of typing up her lab report. 

“No.” She tried to return to the pile of paperwork making it a bit straighter but Caitlin could feel Eliza’s dark eyes on her like a hawk. She sighed. Who was she kidding? She wanted nothing more than to look. 

Rolling up her sleeves, Caitlin found the new formula on her arm which she had already figured out. However, there, in red ink beneath the formula was;  
It’s not that hard. 

Caitlin bristled. How rude! This person stood her up for their meeting and here they were mocking her intelligence. She was ignoring them for pete’s sake! She wasn’t stupid. 

Fine. Two could play that game. Caitlin, despite her limited drawing skills, began to draw a face (that in some way probably resembled her own) sticking out its tongue. Jerk. Mocking her like she hadn’t answered all their formulas. The nerve. 

She was so distracted that she failed to notice Eliza giving her a meaningful look. 

“A truly beautiful rendition of annoyance, Dr. Snow. If I could draw you away from your future career in art for a moment, I need to have a word with you in my office.” Dr. McGee piped up from behind her desk. 

Caitlin really needed to get a mirror or something. 

“Of course, Dr. McGee. I’ll just be a second.” The older woman smiled still amused by the crudely drawn piece of art on Caitlin’s arm. However, instead of saying anything else, Dr. McGee nodded, turned and headed back to her own much roomier office. 

“Busted.” Eliza trilled. Caitlin just rolled her eyes and considered heading to the bathroom to erase the drawing. Her attention once again returned to the bolded word;  
It’s not that hard. 

What an ass. With that she stood up, brushed her shirt off and took a sip of her black coffee. Which she promptly spat back out. 

“Come on, Eliza!”

“You can’t drink straight black coffee, Cait. It’s sad.”

*********************************************************************************************************  
Dr. McGee’s office was startlingly white. Caitlin was used to working in labs so she liked to think she was used to the white. But the walls of Dr. McGee’s office along with all of the furniture were a kind of unnerving white. Less warm than the lab’s white which was often stained with pinks, blues and greens from any amount of spill. 

Dr. McGee sat behind her large desk seeming to write a stern reminder on her arm based on the stern expression on the older woman’s face. However, Caitlin suspected it was actually just a sweet note to her wife- Caitlin had caught a small heart on Dr. McGee’s palm once and had been new enough to ask. They were soulmates who had found each other while Dr. McGee was studying particles in Sweden. Freja apparently had shown up at the Hadron collider with a lovely packed lunch and some fresh pens. Apparently, Dr. McGee never had a pen with much ink. 

“So... what do you know of STAR labs?” Dr. McGee questioned turning towards Caitlin and gesturing for her to sit in a white armchair across from her. Caitlin sat down. 

It was an odd question and one that seemed to come out of the blue. The calculating stare that Dr. McGee fixed her with told a different story though. 

“Ummm...not much. A former rival of Mercury Labs in terms of tech. Run by Dr. Harrison Wells who up until the particle accelerator explosion was thought of as one of the greatest scientific minds of the 21st century. They seem to be keeping a low profile. Understandable, really.” Caitlin thought of all the poor people who lost their lives or friends and family as a result of the particle accelerator. She thought of the increase in unexplainable crime but also the appearance of the Flash who seemed hell bent on keeping the citizens of Central City safe. Then she thought of Harrison Wells. 

She had seen him once. At a press conference he had been hosting about the particle accelerator. Caitlin had been dragged to it by Eliza who was very interested in the research going on at STAR labs. Eliza had even filled out an application to work there. Tina was able to convince her to stay with Mercury with the promise of free coffee twice a week. Eliza did love her overpriced coffee. 

The small space was crowded with eager fans, reporters, and various scientists who seemed to find the amount of people and harsh natural light flooding through the windows unfamiliar and irritating. The room was buzzing with excitement about the particle accelerators. There were also protesters. There usually were when science made large strides. 

Eliza had Caitlin’s hand so not to lose the other scientist but also so she could drag Caitlin through the crowd towards the stage. Caitlin was less ecstatic to be there being forced to take a break from her research to “have fun” as Eliza put it. Caitlin wished they could just stay in the back.

Surprisingly they made it up to the front and Caitlin was greeted by the sight of Harrison Wells in a very well tailored suit walking up to the podium. 

The first thing she noticed was that he was older than she had thought. From all the pictures she would have pegged him as late thirties to early forties. However, looking at him closely Caitlin could see the laugh lines and eye crinkles which marked an older man. The next thing she noticed was his gravity defying hair. She remembered wondering if he actually fixed it that way or whether he was merely too lazy to deal with it and let it do whatever it wanted. 

Then he started talking. 

“My mother always told me that ‘you must be the change you wish to see in the world’. I always thought it was the wisest thing that anyone ever said to me and by extension my mother must be the wisest person on the planet. It took me longer than it should have to find out that the quote was actually from Mahatma Gandhi and not my mother.” His smooth voice paused for the laughter. A small chuckle arose from the crowd. 

“To be fair my mother had many other sayings that were entirely her own such as ‘a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle’ and ‘clean your room young man or we’ll have a problem’.” Another chuckle from the crowd. He seemed to be completely at ease in front of the crowd. However, Caitlin noticed that every couple of words he would touch his glasses. A nervous tick she deduced. 

“However, I do believe the words that my mother and Gandhi spoke. And it has inspired this massive project which hopefully will help us change the world.” He smiled and Caitlin couldn’t help a small smile of her own. His smile was genuine in a way that the suit, vocal pattern and word choice wasn’t. She felt that he believed in the project and with that smile Caitlin believed in it too. 

She wondered if Harrison Wells smiled anymore. 

“Harrison Wells is actually who we need to talk about.” Dr. McGee pulled out a folder and opened it up. “How would you feel about working for Harrison Wells?” 

Caitlin’s mouth opened. And then closed. Then opened again.

“Am I being fired?” This caused Dr. McGee to laugh. 

“No Dr. Snow. Nothing like that. I saw Harry the other day and he posed a problem that I thought you might have the answer to. He’s struggling with a biochemistry problem. I told him about a young scientist in my employ who I hold in very high esteem.” This caused Caitlin to blush. “He seemed a bit desperate and we are in need of some help with a tech problem.” 

Caitlin knew the improved dialysis machine that Caitlin and Eliza had been working on was the tech problem which Dr. McGee was referring to. It was becoming increasingly frustrating for the women in the lab. Tech was not necessarily their forte.

“A trade?” Caitlin wondered if Dr. McGee noticed the slight tremor in her voice. 

“Yes. I will send you over to STAR labs to help with their problem and Harrison has promised to solve our tech issue. If that is amendable to you, of course?” Dr. McGee leaned forward in her chair a bit waiting for an answer. Caitlin felt an itching on her arm. 

“How long would I be working with Dr. Wells?”

“Depends how long it would take you to solve his problem.”

Caitlin thought about it. It was hard choice. She loved working at Mercury labs. The hours were good (when she paid attention to them), the people were nice and the research was interesting. But there was a part of her that was letting her curious nature lead her toward STAR labs and Harrison Wells. Also, the help with the dialysis machine would be a godsend. The itching on her arm continued.

“That would be fine with me, Dr. McGee.” It was out of her mouth before Caitlin had fully decided. Dr. McGee looked satisfied. Well, at least as satisfied as the rarely emotional woman could look. 

“Good. You will be working with Harrison Wells for the foreseeable future. I will send you all the information before the end of the day. That will be all Dr. Snow.” With that Caitlin stood up and walked out into the hallway. The itching on her arm had stopped suddenly and Caitlin rolled up her sleeve to see HG’s work. The beautifully drawn face of a girl stared up at her. The face was sticking her tongue out.

Perfect.


	2. The Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caitlin arrives at STAR labs

It was hard not to be intimidated by STAR labs. Built smack dab in the middle of Central City, the large colosseum engulfed the land it stood on. Caitlin could only imagine the ego on the man who built it. Her mind briefly suggested that he might be compensating for something but she immediately shut that thought down. That was her new boss. She needed to stop that train of thought long before it left the station. 

Caitlin stood at the front entrance rubbing her arms from the chilly morning air. She was lucky she grabbed a sweater on her way out the door. She lingered on her forearm which used to have HG’s complicated formula on it. She had washed off everything except the drawings. She almost washed off the drawings but couldn’t bear to erase the beautiful face that HG had drawn. It had real artistic merit. Despite the insult inherent in the art. She kept her own as well because...well...the singular face would have looked lonely all by itself. 

Taking a deep breath, Caitlin entered the massive building and was immediately greeted with a flurry of limbs and hair stopping in front of her.

Caitlin reeled back from the sudden obstacle blocking her way. She noticed his shirt first. It had a cartoon T-Rex in the center holding two toy grabbers in both of its tiny arms. The caption read “Unstoppable” in large print underneath the image. It made Caitlin giggle a bit. This seemed to be the go for the flurry in front of her. His unnervingly large smile became even larger (if that was even possible).

“Dr. Caitlin Snow?” Caitlin didn’t know if she wanted to be Dr. Caitlin Snow.

“Ummm...yes?” The flurry stuck out their large hand.

“Cisco Ramon. I’m here to take you down to the lab.” Caitlin shook the outstretched hand and smiled. Cisco was somehow able to make the intimidating atmosphere of STAR labs warm and inviting. It must be that smile. 

While shaking his hand, Caitlin noticed something showing up on Cisco’s forehead. It was the words;  
Hello Sweetie

The words were punctuated by a smiley face. Cisco noticed her distracted gaze towards his forehead. He rubbed his hand over his forehead carefully but didn’t look bothered by what he probably knew were soulmate marks. 

“What does it say?”

“Hello Sweetie.” His smile turned from manic to soft. 

“She thinks she’s River Song. We got really into Doctor Who when she came for a visit a couple weeks ago. Two people never quite meeting at the right time. We thought it fit pretty well.” Cisco’s hand once again drifted up to his forehead. He seemed to be thinking about whoever was on the other end of their connection. However, within a second he was shaking himself out of the haze River Song had put him in. 

“What timing, huh? I’m meeting a new person, Lisa.” He started to walk down the left corridor. Caitlin decided it was probably in her best interest to follow him. “I’ll just write on my ass later.” Caitlin didn’t quite know what to say to that. She felt like she was only getting half a conversation. Cisco read her expression.

“I’m scaring you, aren’t I?” Before Caitlin could respond, “I’m sorry. I’ve been down in the lab for like a week now and I’m forgetting how usual human interaction goes.”

“No. It’s fine. I’ve had my own weeks spent in the lab to know what that’s like. One time I spent a month sleeping in the lab as I was trying to grow a kidney.” Cisco’s grin spread.

“See! I’m glad you get it. It’s nice to have a fellow science nerd around. Dr. Wells is great, don’t get me wrong, but he’s a bit... Spockian.”

“He has pointy ears and finds people highly illogical?” Cisco stopped and looked back at Caitlin. His face scrunched up like he was trying to figure out if she was serious. She played innocent. 

“Oooo. I like you. We’re keeping you.” Caitlin laughed.

“Only for as long as this biochemistry problem lasts and my tech issue gets solved.” Cisco nodded conspiratorially. 

“Then we will just have to drag those out for as long as possible.” There was a mischievous glint in his eye. Caitlin found herself hoping that the projects actually would take awhile. She liked Cisco too. He was a bundle of energy wrapped in comic t-shirts.

“Speaking of this biochemistry problem, any chance you’ll tell me what it is?” No one would tell her anything about whatever problem had stumped Harrison Wells. She had asked Dr. McGee multiple times, only to be told that the great Harrison Wells hadn’t even shared the actual problem with Dr. McGee. It was all very mysterious. And it seemed that she wasn’t going to get anything out of Cisco either. 

“Wish I could share with you but I’ve been swore to secrecy. It’s very hush hush. You understand. Dr. Wells said to let you look at the formula and we’ll see if you can help.” Cisco sounded apologetic at least. Until he saw another person a little ways down the hall. “Barry!”

Barry, who looked about Caitlin’s age, seemed a bit startled by the loud shout of his name but he grinned when he saw Cisco waving obnoxiously.

“Cisco!” He ran over at a brisk pace. “I was just looking for you. I got an alert on my phone.” At that Cisco pointed not so subtly at Caitlin. Barry stuttered in his brisk pace stopping in front of the scientists. “Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there. Barry Allen.” He shook Caitlin’s hand and looked over at Cisco with a question in his eyes. 

“Caitlin Snow.”

“She’ll be assisting Dr. Wells with his biochemistry problem.” There was special emphasis that Cisco placed on the words “biochemistry problem”. Barry nodded. 

“Ahh. Yeah. The problem.” Barry emphasized the word the same way Cisco did. A ding came from Barry’s pocket. “Oh. I have to deal with this.” He grabbed the phone from his pocket and shook it in Cisco’s direction. 

“Yeah man. We’ll see you when you get back. Don’t forget…” Barry interrupted whatever Cisco was about to say.

“I won’t.” And with that Barry was jogging down the corridor past the pair of scientists. He turned around as he ran. “Nice to meet you, Caitlin.”

“You too, Barry.” Caitlin waved as he jogged backward. The crooked smile he shot her was absolutely adorable. She felt like something was off with Barry Allen. Not anything bad, just a little odd.

“And here we are!” Cisco had stopped in front of a large room with a circular desk positioned near the door and whiteboards covered in formulas lining the walls. Caitlin could see a small clinic through the glass on their left side. 

However, one whiteboard caught Caitlin’s particular attention. The handwriting was large and scrawly. The board was full of formulas and calculations. It was hard to see any of the white behind the writing. For some reason, it seemed familiar but she couldn’t place it. She moved a bit closer. 

Suddenly, it hit her like a ton of bricks. 

It was the handwriting. 

The handwriting on her arms.

The handwriting that wrote her formulas every couple weeks. 

The exact equal sign. The exact two that she saw all too often looped on her forearm. Caitlin thought she might be having a panic attack.

“Whose handwriting is this?” Her voice was breathy and shaky. Her stomach was turning. 

“That would be mine.” A deep voice that certainly did not come from Cisco Ramon answered from the doorway. Caitlin turned to see Dr. Harrison Wells staring back at her.


	3. The Agreement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caitlin meets Dr. Harrison Wells

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One final short chapter and then we can get to the real juicy stuff :) I've got 10 chapters mapped out so far and still have stuff to fit in!

She had to get her breathing under control or else she was going to pass out on the floor of STAR labs.

Caitlin noticed his sleeves first. His black hoodie, which was very snug, had the sleeves rolled down over his arms. Meaning that Caitlin could not just immediately assume Harrison Wells was her soulmate. That made her breathing a little bit easier.

She also noticed the coiled way he held himself. Although, he certainly wasn’t open when she had seen him on the stage, there was a definite weight on his shoulders that had not been there before. He stood like a cobra ready to strike at the next victim.

He seemed from all outward appearances a different man than the one who joked about his mother and Gandhi before the particle accelerator disaster. Except for his hair. It was still the gravity defying mop on the top of his head. It clashed as much with his hoodie then it had with his nicely pressed suit. Caitlin wondered once again if Harrison Wells did his hair like that on purpose.

Then she noticed his frown.

He had definitely said something. His eyebrow was arched as if trying to decide whether to repeat whatever he just said. Perhaps speaking slower might work better for the comatose woman in front of him.

“I’m sorry. Could you repeat that?” She noticed the definite tremor in her voice but she preservered. Caitlin unconsciously touched the spot where the drawings were.

Harrison Wells, in the meantime, had decided to come closer so he could be heard better.

“Are you the bioengineer that Tina sent over?” She could pick out the shades of green in his blue eyes. Caitlin shook her head a little. What in the world was she talking about?

“Oh...ummm...yes. Dr. Caitlin Snow.” Considering that she hadn’t actually moved since Dr. Wells had entered the room, Caitlin forced herself to extend an arm for a handshake. Harrison Wells had other ideas.

Skirting right around her handshake, Dr. Wells positioned himself in front of the whiteboard. Caitlin’s hackles briefly raised. It was just a handshake. She hadn’t asked him to handle dangerous or deadly bacteria without goggles or gloves. Her eyes followed his movement but found themselves glued to the handwriting behind him. After giving it a second look, Caitlin could convince herself that she had imagined the similarities.

“I’m having trouble with this formula and I need fresh eyes.” He looks disparagingly at Cisco who shrugged.

“Don’t look at me like that. Your daughter says you haven’t been home in four days.” It was clearly an old argument between the two of them. Caitlin tried to take her cue from Dr. Wells. Ignoring the distracting handwriting (which couldn’t be the same handwriting on her arm), she actually focused on the equations. Something in the formulas bugged her and it was a tiny sliver of something shiny sticking out of a nearby desk drawer which confirmed it. Finally she understood why Harrison Wells had not wanted to share his work with anyone.

“So you’re working with the Flash?” She had hardly gotten the words out before Cisco choked on the large soda he had started drinking. Cisco sputtered as he tried to right himself. She also had Dr. Wells’ full attention for the first time.  
He eyed her warily as if he wasn’t sure how to proceed. She thought she saw hints of respect in his expression. But perhaps that was wishful thinking.

“What makes you say that?” It was a fair question. Caitlin pointed out a small equation in the bottom right corner.

“Well, this formula is used to find out average speed. Now, that could be trying to figure out the average speed for anything. A particle, a car, an animal. But it's this formula…” She moves her hand over to the top right side of the board “...which led me to my conclusion. Why would you be looking at the effect of supersonic speed on a person’s body?” Dr. Wells deflated a little.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean that we work with the Flash. It merely means I have an interest in the physics of his powers.” He started to walk away. She could tell he wasn’t impressed. Probably thinking Caitlin had jumped to a wild accusation with little evidence because she like many girls in the city had a crush of the Flash. She ruffled a bit. Fine. He wanted to play it that way.

“Also, there’s a Flash logo sticking out of this drawer.” Dr. Wells froze. His whole body flinched and Cisco started choking again. She plucked it from its perch and held it up. “Your handiwork, I presume?”

“Oh! Ummm!” This came from Cisco who was trying to vault his desk to grab the logo out of Caitlin’s hand. Cisco was torn between looking at Dr. Wells and staring at the logo. Like a witness caught by the lie detector. “That was me! I was just trying to get a really convincing replica...mission accomplished.” He finally got over the desk and made a grab for the logo. However, Caitlin was too fast for him yanking it out of his path. He almost fell on his face in his flurry of limbs.

“Oh really?” Caitlin enjoyed this place of power. Dr. Wells had finally turned around and his eyes were shooting daggers at Cisco. Cisco had recovered from his botched grab and straightened himself.

“Oh yeah! It’s cool that you thought it was real though.” Suddenly, as Cisco got the words out, a blast of air blew everyone’s hair around and the Flash was in the lab.

Or at least Barry Allen was in the lab wearing the Flash’s uniform. The cowl was down and Caitlin was getting a pretty good view of his side profile. 

“Man. That was a tough one guys. Any chance we could make the suit a little lighter? It kind of weighs me down.” It was as he was finishing his spiel that Barry Allen noticed Caitlin Snow and he turned a ghastly shade of white.

“Oh crap!” Within an instant, Caitlin couldn’t make out any of his distinguishing facial features. Vibrating only his face, Barry Allen was merely a blur. This made Caitlin smile. Fascinating.

“Ignore the man behind the curtain.” His voice sounded distorted. Caitlin marveled at the fact that Barry was able to vibrate his vocal cords. A thought entered her mind which she couldn’t let go.

“Can you do different frequencies, Barry?” Caitlin wondered if someone would lend her a pencil and paper. The calculations were already running through her head. This seemed to take Barry by surprise. He cocked his vibrating head to the side.

“Huh?”

“Can you vibrate your vocal cords at different frequencies to produce different sounds?” The blur looked over at Dr. Wells who had taken his hand off his temple to look at Caitlin over his lenses.

“I don’t know.” It was said tentatively but with just enough curiosity. Barry Allen hadn’t even thought of that as a possibility. “I haven’t really tried.”

“Mr. Allen,” Barry turned again towards Dr. Wells still vibrating, “You can stop. She knows who you are. You need to be faster on the uptake.” The vibration stopped just in time for Caitlin to see Barry putting his tongue back in his mouth. However, Dr. Wells was no longer paying attention to Barry. He was examining Caitlin like a cat trying to decide if the prey was actually a predator.

“So you’re biochemistry problem is…” Caitlin decided to say something to break the tension.

“Mr. Allen, yes. Mr. Ramon and I have been trying to help as best we can but I’ll admit Biology is not my background. Neither is Ramon's.” Cisco snapped his head up from where he and Barry were conferring about what was happening.

“I took a biology course. Once.”

“Precisely. Mr. Allen is probably the only person here with a background in biology. And even then…”

“I work mostly with the deceased.” Caitlin’s face must have asked the question that she didn’t verbalize. “I’m in criminal forensics.” Caitlin nodded her understanding.

“I saw Tina at Jitters a couple of weeks ago and started to vent my frustrations. Careful to not be too specific, of course. You come very highly recommended.” This made Caitlin blush a little bit. She had always thought that Dr. McGee and her worked well together. It was nice to know that the other woman felt the same. “In both your work and your discretion.” The threat was implied. The Flash’s secret identity was to be kept a secret. Caitlin nodded her understanding.

“So what do you say, Dr. Snow?” So he had been listening when she introduced herself.

Caitlin didn’t know what to say. Everything was happening so quickly. Caitlin would enjoy getting a chance to study the effects of the particle accelerator. She would get to study the biology of a superhuman which would be thrilling. But she found her attention once again on the whiteboard. The handwriting.

She tracked the loop in the two. Caitlin thought of the twos that sometimes graced her arm. The loops on the board were too cramped. Too narrow. Harrison Wells was not her soulmate. The handwriting was completely wrong. She could definitely take this job and work closely with the three of them. After all, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

She then noticed a tiny inaccuracy concerning Barry’s oxygen levels.

“I think I can help.” This made Cisco and Barry smile. Cisco because he seemed to genuinely like Caitlin and Barry probably because he wanted to see what else she could suggest. Dr. Wells just nodded.

“Good. Then let’s get to work.” Dr. Wells grabbed a whiteboard marker and rolled up his sleeves. This allowed Caitlin to see the two drawings which graced his left arm.

She found it hard to breathe once more.


	4. The Argument

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It all goes horribly wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A road with no bumps is a boring road indeed.

The rest of her day was a blur. 

Caitlin worked on the formula in a half comatose state as her “soulmate” worked not five feet from her. 

She didn’t speak to him. She tried not to look at him. She had been trained for all sorts of medical situations but this ache in her heart and pain in her head were something she wasn’t equipped to deal with. 

Dr. Wells left about an hour after Caitlin had met him. With nothing more than a flick of his wrist in her direction, he turned and stalked out of the lab. Her eyes followed the drawings still on his arms as he left. She felt her breath return once he was out of sight. 

Once he left, Caitlin was able to push the new, strange information to the back of her mind and focus on her new challenge. Helping Barry Allen aka The Flash. 

Eight hours working with Cisco on Barry’s vibrating vocal chords and what would be possible with that ability flew by once Caitlin forgot about Harrison Wells. Cisco was exactly what Caitlin predicted he would be. A frenzied genius with a nerdy sense of humor and an edge of sarcasm that made the darker side of Caitlin laugh hysterically. 

Barry, himself, was a tad more reserved but only for the first ten minutes or so. Barry was like a giant labrador puppy who was just figuring out how to run. All his energy was trying to be contained but it leaked out now and then as he became more and more excited about the possibilities of making completely new sounds with his voice. 

Caitlin felt more at home than she probably ever had. She loved working for Dr. McGee and Eliza would always be her best friend but there was something about STAR labs that fit Caitlin better than anywhere else had. 

She was finally able to have her own space. Cisco had taken her through the “Med Bay” as he called it and proclaimed that it rarely got used since nobody at STAR labs really knew how to use it. After seeing Caitlin’s face, poorly hidden delight, Cisco had told her she could claim the space as her own for the time being. If she wanted. 

And although Caitlin loved the work that she got to do with Dr. McGee, the work she was getting to do with STAR labs was far outside the realm of medical science. Which just made it all the better. Caitlin was nothing if she didn’t love a good mystery.   
When she returned home that night, however, it all hit her like a freight train again. 

Harrison Wells was her soulmate and she had no clue what to do about it. 

She considered calling Eliza. Eliza would probably know what to do. She would definitely have an opinion at least. And her opinion would probably be; “Tell him and have gorgeous super genius babies.” 

Caitlin didn’t know if she wanted to tell him. 

She was having a hard time reconciling the writing on her arm with the man who hours earlier had refused to shake her hand. Were they too different or were they too similar? She didn’t know anything about Dr. Wells beside what was talked about on the news or gossiped about on late night talk shows. 

She took out the notebook she kept by her bedside with all the notes she had about HG. She started to add a new column about what she knew about Harrison Wells. 

He was a genius. He was a great inventor. He was considered friendly but reserved before the explosion. He was considered just reserved after the explosion. He was responsible for the greatest disaster that Central City had seen in fifty years. He had refused to shake her hand. 

Plus he had stood her up. Dr. Wells was obviously quite happy not to meet her so why should she tell him. He wouldn’t give her a chance when they hadn’t met. What was different now?

She made a decision. She wasn’t going to tell anyone. Not Eliza. Not her family. And certainly not Harrison Wells. 

Caitlin had a job to do and she was going to do it to the best of her ability without letting this little bit of information interfere. She decided she would write herself a new list. A list that would remind her why she was not getting involved or telling Dr. Wells.

Reasons to not tell Dr. Wells that he is your “soulmate”:

1\. He was obviously not interested in a relationship with Caitlin. He had stood her up at the coffee shop.   
2\. He has a daughter which has it's own challenges.   
3\. If he has a daughter, he probably has or had a wife.   
4\. She was working with him. He wasn’t necessarily her boss but still that could get very messy.  
5\. She didn’t know if she was ready to be in that serious of a relationship yet. She knows she got up the nerve to try to meet him but she had been drunk at the time. Was she really ready for a new relationship if she couldn’t make a date without alcohol being involved?   
6\. She didn’t know him. Too many variables which resulted in a poor experiment. As a scientist, she wanted concrete numbers.  
7\. And finally, he seemed a bit rude if the not shaking hands thing is anything to go off of. 

Caitlin considered the list. Seven reasons were more than enough to forget she ever found her soulmate. 

She had a pang of heartache for the fantasy she had concocted in her head. Where they would meet, probably at a conference where they both were giving talks on their respective subjects, and everything would simply fall into place. She wouldn’t be alone anymore. She had solved the mystery and it was on to happily ever after. She sighed. 

Unfortunately, life was not that kind to Caitlin. 

With a last look at her list, Caitlin put the notebook back into the bedside drawer and fell into a deep sleep. 

**********************************************************************************

Her second day Caitlin did not see hide nor hair of Harrison Wells. Which suited her just fine. Fresh off the creation of the list, Caitlin knew that seeing him would just make everything more complicated. She spent the day checking over Barry’s vitals while the speedster showed off everything he could do. 

The third day, Caitlin did see Dr. Wells but took great steps to avoid the man. If Dr. Wells came into view in the hallway, Caitlin moved down another hallway. If he entered the cortex, Caitlin found an excuse to leave, usually retreating to her Med Bay. This. of course, meant she could hear everything that was being discussed. It was clear to Caitlin, Harrison Wells was every inch the genius he had been made out to be. He talked mostly to himself seeming to expect Cisco and Barry to keep up. She was surprised to find they did. The three of them worked in perfect sync. Caitlin wanted nothing more than to be a part of their three part harmony. 

She shook herself out of that line of thought. She just needed to help with figuring out how best to help Barry and get back to Mercury labs. 

It was on the third day that avoiding Harrison Wells became impossible. 

Caitlin was in the middle of working on recording Barry’s heartbeat at his fastest speed to get a point of reference when Dr. Wells burst into the lab. Caitlin looked around to find an escape route but for the first time in three days Caitlin Snow had Harrison Wells’ full attention. 

“What the hell is this?” Dr. Wells demanded pushing a piece of paper towards her. She didn’t know what to say. 

“It’s a formula to help improve Barry’s stride rate.” Caitlin’s eyes darted towards the exit. Maybe if she faked an emergency. 

“Not that. This.” He pointed towards one particular point in the formula. It took Caitlin a second to process what he was talking about. Then she noticed the mistake. It was a small mistake but it was still there. 

“Oh. Sorry. I must have gotten distracted. I’ll fix it now.” She turned to her computer hoping Dr. Wells would take the hint and leave. He didn’t move. 

“You’ll find that in this line of work, distraction can get people killed, Dr. Snow. I don’t need a first year Grad student who gives me sloppy figures.” The tone in which he spit out her name made Caitlin tense. Like she didn’t deserve the title Doctor. The statement was rude, arrogant and cold all at the same time. 

For his part, Dr. Wells seemed to be satisfied with the statement he had made and started to leave the room. It was at this moment that Caitlin noticed the mistake was not her own but Cisco’s, who was currently on a lunch run. 

She didn’t know what possessed her to stand up and say;

“It was an accident. Anyone can make them.” The “including you” was heavily implied. It took all her courage to say. She probably should have let him leave. She didn’t like his tone though. Everyone could make a mistake. In fact, it was the foundation science was built on. Accidents can lead to great discoveries. Dr. Wells stopped dead in his tracks and turned around on his heels. 

His eyes bored into hers.

“An accident which could have ended Mr. Allen’s life.” Dr. Wells said it in a grave tone which made Caitlin scoff. 

“Or possibly given him indigestion. Dr. Wells, there’s nothing to indicate that this mistake would have done anything to Barry.” Caitlin points to the mistake as if to strengthen her point. Dr. Wells took off his glasses and Caitlin looked at the tension in his forehead.

“And there’s nothing to indicate it would have been completely harmless.” It was said with a quiet intensity that probably usually indicated the conversation was done. Caitlin stepped a little closer to Dr. Wells. This was getting ridiculous. 

“I’m sorry but I think you are being a touch overdramatic!” She realized her volume had increased significantly. Dr. Wells took a step closer as well. 

“I don’t care what you think as long as Mr. Allen lives!” The roar seemed to come out of nowhere. It was like Dr. Wells was not used to people, who he didn’t deal with daily, directly challenging him. They were both breathing heavily and had moved until they were only a foot away from each other. Caitlin sneered and finally schooled her expression into a cold facade. She turned back to her desk. 

Time to execute her escape route. Note taken. Avoid Harrison Wells at all costs. 

“I think I’ll be leaving for the day, Dr. Wells.” She said “Doctor” in the same tone he used. Like he did not deserve the title. “I did not sign up for this kind of treatment. I agreed to help with your biochemistry problem. Not be a punching bag.” She grabbed her purse and gathered up the rest of her dignity to leave. She got to the door before Dr. Wells spoke again. 

“That’s fine, Dr. Snow. But know if you leave now I’ll have to inform Dr. McGee that I can offer no assistance with her tech issue. Such a shame.” She stopped. Dr. McGee would not fire her if Harrison Wells didn’t fix their tech issue but she wondered if Dr. McGee’s recommendations would become a thing of the past. Probably not but Caitlin knew if would take them at least the next year to work out the issue which would probably take Harrison Wells a month. 

Damn him. 

She turned around and shot Harrison Wells the dirtiest look she could muster. The Bastard smiled as she stalked back over to her chair. 

“Now if you’re done with your tantrum, fix your mistake.” Then he left. She knew it was immature but she stuck her tongue out at the retreating figure. She looked at her arm. The drawings were covered by her sweater but she promised herself she would erase them when she got home. 

At that moment, Cisco walked in holding two bags of Big Belly Burger with a couple of fries hanging out of his mouth. He quickly ate them and shouted while holding the bags aloft. “Got the grub! You hungry?” 

Caitlin mustered up a smile from her desk and nodded. Cisco seemed to sense something was wrong. 

“Are you okay?” It was said with such a warmth and concern. This made Caitlin actually smile. 

“Cisco, did you write this?” She pointed to the formula on her tablet. She had taken to using it so that Dr. Wells wouldn’t recognize her handwriting. Cisco looked at it for a moment before nodding. 

“Yeah. Yesterday.” He placed the bags on the counter and pushed one towards her.

“Do you notice anything off about it?” Cisco looked a little closer. Then suddenly it seemed to dawn on him. 

“Oh crap. Better get this fixed before Wells finds out.” He hopped over to the computer and started typing away grabbing his large drink as he went. Caitlin shook her head. 

“Too late.” Cisco whipped his head back to her. 

“Damn! Did he tell you to tell me to meet him in his office?” 

“No because it thought it was my mistake.” Cisco grimaced. 

“Oh no. Did he yell?”

“Yep.”

“Did he insult your intelligence?”

“Yep.”

“Did he bring up ending Barry’s life?”

“Yep.” Cisco drooped. He looked resigned and sad. 

“Well, it's been nice knowing you Caitlin. I’m sorry our boss is an ogre.”

“Oh I’m not leaving.” This seemed to perk him up a bit. Caitlin felt happy for a brief moment before recalling Dr. Wells’ statement about her intelligence.

“No?”

“No.” Cisco looked confused for a moment. Then his expression cleared. 

“Did he blackmail you?”

“Yep.” Cisco’s face did a complicated dance of emotion. 

“Oh Caitlin. I’ll go tell him it was me.” He started to leave. Cisco’s feet dragged as he walked out. Caitlin took pity on him. 

“It’s fine, Cisco. Let’s get this problem fixed and move on.” With that Caitlin started to fix the formula on her tablet. Cisco seemed to hesitate. 

“But it wasn’t your fault.” Caitlin seriously considered sending Cisco in to tell Dr. Wells if only to embarrass the man for his ridiculous behavior. Instead, she chose to take the high road. Let Dr. Wells have the low one all for himself. 

“It could have easily been my fault. You’ll just have to take the next bullet for me.” She winked at Cisco hoping that that the wink would relieve some of the tension. She grabbed a bag of food and returned to work. A couple seconds later, Cisco’s voice sounded from behind her. 

“He’s not so bad, you know. He’s just been on edge lately. Barry nearly died last week because he didn’t watch his vitals close enough. Really scared him actually.” Caitlin nodded but her heart wasn’t in it. It wasn’t an excuse. 

She felt an itching on her arm and found the stride formula fixed on her arm. 

“Sure Cisco.” Fate. Destiny. Whatever the hell made the connection had obviously made a mistake. Later that night she would add to her list of reasons not to get involved with Harrison Wells; 

8\. Harrison Wells was an ass.


	5. The Late Night Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caitlin tries to give up on her connection. It's not as easy as she thought it would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An update in honor of Snowells week and the prompt "soulmarked".

It felt like it was taunting her. 

The new formula on her arm was the same formula Dr. Wells had blackmailed her over. 

The letters and numbers spoke not just of Barry’s speed and the possibilities of his powers but also the end of the possibilities for her soulmate. 

A house hunting show played in the background as Caitlin stared at the formula while sitting on her bed. 

She felt an angry pit form in her stomach. She couldn’t take it anymore. Now that she had met him, she wanted nothing to do with him. 

Grabbing a sharpie from the bedside table, she angrily marked on her arm. 

'I’m Not Playing This Game Anymore.'

It would take a while to wash off but it would keep her from being tempted to write on her arm. She let the anger drain with each word she wrote. Satisfied with the black marks which stood out bold against her pale skin, she headed towards the bathroom to get rid of the formula and get a shower. She needed a fresh start. And possibly needed to cry about the ended chapter of her life. 

Hopping out of the shower, feeling much better about her current circumstance, Caitlin moved to the bed to snuggle in and watch people spend too much money on a house they couldn’t afford. That’s when she felt the itching on her arm. 

Seriously. She thought her tone in sharpie made it quite clear this was not a conversation. She wondered if this was typical Dr. Wells. Always has to have the last word. It made her dislike him even more. 

Staring back at her were a couple words in pen. 

'What do you mean?'

She imagined him in a ridiculous smoking jacket stroking his white cat laughing at the over emotional person on the other end of the connection. Probably thought emotions were for lesser beings and all that. 

What did he mean what did she mean? She was giving up. She was giving up before he had the chance. Caitlin would finish her work with Harrison Wells and move on without him ever becoming the wiser. 

Fine. If sharpie didn’t make it clear perhaps red marker would. 

'I don’t know if you’re trying to gauge how intelligent I am or if you just forget you write here but please stop.'

It was cramped small writing but it seemed to convey her desperation. There are a few moments where Caitlin can’t breathe. It was becoming difficult all over again. All that hope she had held since she was 18 and trying to figure out the first formula was draining before her eyes. 

It took a long time for anything to be written back. 

So long in fact Caitlin began to drift off thinking that it was finally over and she could wake up the next day with a fresh start. But she felt her arm begin to itch again. Maybe she should invest in some bolder markers. 

She sighed as she looked down at her arm. She wasn’t going to respond this time. She was making the choice to leave this fantasy behind as the reality hit her this morning. With his form smirking at her from across the room as he casually threatened her work. The writing was small but deliberate. Each word carefully crafted. 

'I appreciate your input.'

It wasn’t what she had been expecting. 

She thought perhaps he would have either defended his actions with a sarcastic retort such as “If you can’t handle the formulas you could have just said” or possibly even “I don’t know what you mean.” This response didn’t make sense. So against better judgement she wrote back. 

'What.'

She hoped it conveyed her impatience. She felt the itching sensation again. That was faster. 

'Sometimes I get stuck and you are someone who I trust to help.' 

And after another couple of seconds…

'It’s nice to know you’re there.' 

It was frighteningly honest. A side of HG that she hadn’t seen that probably would have made her fall more in love with him. She had thought that the formulas had been some kind of weird test but it had been some weird sense of comfort for Harrison Wells. He was still a jerk though. 

The words disappeared to leave an empty space on her arm. Except for her permanent marker of course. The other pen marks were replaced with more writing. 

'I apologize if I made you feel like this was a test. I have been told that I sometimes project my own inadequacies onto others.'

This made her snort a bit. 

'Direct quote from someone?'

It sounded too textbook for it to be something he had just thought of on the fly.

'Oh yes, I got quite a lashing from a colleague today for my behavior.'' 

She wondered if Cisco was the colleague. She would have liked to be present for that. Lots of flailing limbs and snide comments she presumed.

'Did you deserve it?'

Her own test for the real Harrison Wells. Did he believe he deserved it? HG probably would have but she wasn’t sure about Dr. Wells. 

'Yes I did. I was a little harsh on someone today.' 

A little? Caitlin raised an eyebrow. Is she going to go deeper into this?

'What’d you do?'

Apparently she was. 

'I yelled at her for something that wasn’t her fault. It was not my finest moment.' 

A little bit of the earlier conversation faded on her arm and after a few seconds. 

'I was what my daughter calls a “tool"'

This made her laugh out loud. Damn it. She wanted so desperately to just forget about the interaction they had earlier. 

She had one more question.

'Are you going to apologize?'

It was important. She wanted to know. She needed to know. 

There was nothing for a long time. It was like a little piece of her was given hope only for it to be taken away again. She’s a little disappointed, mostly in herself. She had been more than willing to give him another chance at the drop of a hat. She needed to remember her list. 

****************************************************************************************

'Someday.' 

It was on her arm when she woke up the next day. A single word that spoke of something beginning but she didn’t know if it was good or bad. 

In the meantime, she supposed she could downgrade Harrison Wells to a tool until he apologized in person.


	6. The Olive Branch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caitlin and Harrison have a semi-civil real life conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long. Work got crazy but I'm trying to make some more time for writing.

Still, Caitlin decided to give Dr. Wells a wide berth while at STAR labs. He might not be Satan incarnate but that didn’t mean Caitlin wanted to be in the line of fire. She was pretty sure Dr. Wells was giving her her own space as well. Cisco kept glaring at him whenever they were in the same room together which seemed to keep Dr. Wells tense and away from Caitlin. 

She had heard him at one point talking to Cisco about one her formulas. Not necessarily criticizing but certainly questioning. They were intelligent questions that led to many a great line of thought for Caitlin. A part of her wished he’d ask her. However, every time she had a thought like that she got the image of Harrison Wells leaning against the wall, casually blackmailing her. No, this was better. 

She continued to use her Ipad to disguise her handwriting regardless, just in case. 

Caitlin was getting to know Cisco and Barry well, at least. She was getting to know their personalities, their weird obsessions and their terrible health habits. Caitlin swore if Cisco bought Big Belly Burger one more time or she noticed the ridiculously large bags under Barry’s eyes from sleepless night, she was going to shove an apple and a sleep number mattress at both of them. She actually did switch Cisco’s fry for a celery stick once when he was distracted. He took a bite of the celery stick only to blanch and turn towards her in slow motion. 

“Traitor.” It was said with little venom but much gravity. Caitlin smiled and ate the fry she had switched out. 

“You need to eat healthier.” Cisco scoffed. 

“I ate a granola bar once.”

“That was a snickers bar, Cisco.” 

“It had a grainy quality.” Caitlin laughed. As for Barry, Caitlin mostly just had him lie down a lot for his checks. Most of the time, he would fall straight to sleep. With these little interjections in her friends’ lives, she felt like she was starting to be the fourth part to their harmony. 

Well, at least the third part to her own special harmony with Barry and Cisco. 

It had been almost a week since the incident, as she had termed it in her head, and two days after her chat with HG. Caitlin was looking through Barry’s readings. After all, that was what she had been hired to help with. Barry wasn’t consuming nearly enough calories for his speed but expecting him to eat that much calories on his own was a ridiculous request. So, Caitlin was trying to make up a substitute which would prevent Barry from passing out. And if she was also researching the possibilities of using Barry’s vibration to pass through solid objects, well, that was nobody’s business but hers. 

Trying to get the flavoring just right, Caitlin was startled as Cisco entered the cortex brandishing his pen and clipboard like a weapon. He looked more serious than normal and Caitlin was immediately concerned. 

“Cisco? You okay?” Caitlin briefly thought back to what Cisco said he was going to do when he left the cortex. Something with Dr. Wells. Well, that explained it. Cisco shrugged. 

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just Dr. Wells…” Caitlin sighed. 

“What’d he do?” Cisco looked up at her and obviously seeing her anger, shook his head quickly. 

“Oh, no. Nothing like that. I went in to have him sign these forms and he waved me off. Said he’d sign them later.” Caitlin was lost.

“So?” 

“He kind of flinched when he moved his left hand to wave me off. I think it might be hurt.” Cisco turned to Caitlin fully this time and looked earnest. “Will you check on him? I know you’ve been avoiding him but I’m worried he’ll keep working and make his injury even worse.” She tried to move away.

“I don’t know, Cisco. He probably just fell asleep at his desk and slept on his wrist weird.” Cisco decided to go a different route for his request. Following her as she moved around the lab, his bottom lip went out and his eyes went wide. 

“Please Caitlin.” Caitlin rolled her eyes. She supposed it wouldn’t hurt to check. If he really did hurt himself, it would most likely be a quick fix and if not she could simply leave. 

“Fine. I’ll go check.” Cisco smiles.

“Thanks Caitlin.” He turned to walk away and Caitlin found herself smiling at his retreating figure. Someone had written “I love you” on the back of Cisco’s neck where he had his hair pulled back in a bun. The statement was punctuated with a small heart. She wondered how Lisa had even gotten writing back there. 

Grabbing her med bag, just in case, Caitlin started down the hall towards Dr. Wells’ office. It wasn’t long before she was in front of the door marked Dr. Harrison Wells. It took all her energy to knock. 

“I told you I’m fine, Cisco. Please go back to work.” This was going to be fun. She opened the door a crack. 

“Not Cisco. Can I come in?” His head snapped up from his laptop to the door. Dr. Wells adjusted his glasses as if he couldn’t quite believe Caitlin was there. She couldn’t really believe it herself. She took his acknowledgement as an invitation to come inside. 

She was surprised at how warm his office felt. It wasn’t mechanical like the rest of STAR labs but earth toned. The walls were a beautiful green color with wood furnishings. There was a small gray couch in the corner with a couple pillows and a cozy blanket that looked like it was used often. The office was also full of plants, mostly of the succulent variety. She wondered if he could keep a plant alive. 

“What do you need, Snow?” He seemed both nervous and vaguely irritated. Caitlin thought it was probably best to approach this situation delicately. 

“Cisco believes that you might have hurt your wrist?” She let herself trail off to prompt him to answer in the negative or positive. Dr. Wells scoffed a bit and rolled his eyes. 

“I’m fine, Dr. Snow. Thank you but you can go back to work.” It was the brush off. She decided to conduct a little experiment. She threw a pen at Dr. Wells. Dr. Wells caught it with his right hand. 

“See. Fine.” There was annoyance in his voice. 

“The funny thing, however, is that you’re left handed.” Dr. Wells looked a little petulant as he was caught in his lie.

“You don’t know that.” 

“Cisco told me.” It was better than “you tend to favor writing on your right arm, choosing only to write on your left when communicating with me.” She didn’t think that would go over well. His eyes narrowed a bit. Caught then. 

She moved over to the desk and dragged a chair next to Dr. Wells. “Your wrist, please?” The please was a bit of an afterthought but Dr. Wells did place his wrist on the desk where she could examine it. 

It was definitely hurt. Not broken but tender to her touch. He wasn’t looking directly at her but she could see the mini flinches he gave whenever her fingers touched his wrist. Dr. Wells looked like he’d rather be anywhere else than sitting next to Caitlin. She felt the same but while she was examining the extent of the damage, she might as well be polite. 

“How’d you hurt it?” She didn’t expect him to answer but he did mutter something under his breath. “Sorry. I didn’t catch that.” She hoped it was something she could use for her own blackmail purposes. 

Dr. Wells actually looked at her this time. It was startling really. He had just about the bluest eyes Caitlin had ever seen. They were pale and icy only enhanced by the lenses in front of them. Was she being weighed? Measured? Would she be found wanting? She convinced herself she didn’t care thinking back to the note at the end of her list. Harrison Wells was a blackmailing tool whose opinion did not matter. 

“I was trying to assemble an IKEA nightstand. The nightstand fought back.” The deadpan delivery elicited a small snort from Caitlin. 

“Did you get it assembled at least?”

“No. I think, I’m going to have to enlist Mr. Allen to help. I’m not much of a handyman.” This threw her. 

“You’re an inventor.” He smiled at his own joke before he told it. It was smug and Caitlin almost kicked herself when she found it incredibly attractive.

“I don’t follow directions well.” 

“Does that only apply to IKEA directions?” She kept herself talking so she would stop focusing on his smirk. However, this question caused the smirk to fall off his face. He coughed like he remembered where he was. 

“No. No it doesn’t.” It was quiet for awhile as Caitlin assessed the damage. She sighed when she was done and started rooting through her med kit for what she needed. Dr. Wells waited for her diagnosis. 

“I believe you have a colles’ fracture. It’s a small fracture at the distal end of the radius. It’s caused by catching yourself from a fall in the wrong way or overuse.” The question was implicit and Dr. Wells answered.

“The pieces wouldn’t go together and I did fall.” Caitlin nodded and continued to look for her wrist splint in her bag. 

“I would probably need an x-ray to confirm but I’m pretty sure. It’s not large enough for a cast but I’ll need to splint it and you’ll need to rest it. Could you roll up your sleeve?” It wasn’t until he had grabbed the bottom of his sleeve that she realized what she was about to see. 

It was her own writing from two nights earlier. She had forgotten to wash it off. It was odd not to see that writing on her own arm. Like seeing something reflected backwards in a mirror. It was right but wrong at the same time. She found herself wondering in another world whether this would be that glorious romantic moment where Caitlin rolled up her own sleeve and they lived happily ever after. 

“Sorry. I forgot that was there.” It took Caitlin a second to remember the person attached to the forearm who was apologizing. She glanced at Dr. Wells who was looking at the writing as well. Caitlin shook her head and started to put the splint over the writing. She would wash it off when she got home. 

“No problem.” She took a moment and then did another stupid thing. She pointed to the bold sharpie. “Somebody mad at you?” Caitlin almost slapped herself for continuing to get involved. 

“Yes, well, I’m not known for my winning personality.” He seemed lost in thought as he said it. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost. She finished the splint and stood. 

“That should hold till you can visit another doctor.”   
“Thank you, Dr. Snow.” Caitlin nodded and moved for the door. One jab before she left. 

“Try to avoid other pieces of IKEA furniture and people with feelings, Dr. Wells. Can’t afford a broken bone, can we?” With that, she was out of the office and moving down the hall. She was almost at the end of the hall when she heard her name. 

“Dr. Snow?” She almost pretended not to hear it but she figured she shouldn’t leave on such a nasty note. She turned. 

“Yes, Dr. Wells? He looked small in the doorway to his office. Slouching and trying to grasp at words. It was such a different demeanor from the one who had casually leaned against the wall with a smirk and a threat. He fidgeted with his glasses. It reminded her of the Harrison Wells she had seen give the speech about his mother. 

“You are more than welcome to leave if you would like.” It was an olive branch. A version of an apology. Not quite a sorry but an acknowledgement of a wrong action and trying to fix it. It was another piece of the puzzle that Caitlin was constructing of Harrison Wells. 

“I said I would help with your problem and I will.” She always did enjoy a puzzle. Dr. Wells stood there for a moment before nodding, rubbing his splint a bit and retreating inside. 

Caitlin looked down at the “someday” on her wrist. She traced the letters and continued back to the cortex. She supposed she could downgrade Harrison Wells to a hothead. It didn’t really mean anything anyway.


	7. Can't Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Second late night conversation

Her arm was itching. 

It took a few seconds for her to come out of her REM cycle. Her eyes blinked sleepily as she looked out into the dark. The covers were crumpled from where she had slept. Clicking her lamp on, she took a second and a breath before looking at her arm. 

‘Do you ever have trouble sleeping?’

It was a funny question to ask given he had woken her up. She shouldn’t answer it. She should go back to sleep and maybe answer with a “no” in the morning. 

But the lettering looked so different than it usually did. A bit more hesitant with more spacing between the words. Neater as if it took him longer to write. She thought back to what Harrison had written earlier. That she was a source of comfort for him. It was nice to know someone was on the other side of the writing. Finally, she thought of the many sleepless nights Caitlin had spent right after Ronnie had died. The hopeless dark void which refused its victim rest. 

‘In the past.’

His response was almost immediate as if he was so happy to find her awake, he didn’t want to give her anytime to fall back asleep. 

‘What worked for you?’

She had a moment where she desperately wanted to write ‘time’ but Caitlin knew that was a brush off answer. 

‘A cup of hot cocoa and the dulcet sounds of Michael Buble.’ 

It was true. The crooning of Buble, Connick Jr and Sinatra had been very good for her when she couldn’t sleep. And hot cocoa cured most pains. 

‘I think I prefer Linda Ronstadt.’

‘I don’t know her.’

‘Probably too young.’ 

She smiled. Yes, she probably was. Pulling out her phone, she clicked on the first song that showed up in her search results and decided that a hot cocoa sounded nice. Plus, she was going to need something to clear some space. 

A slow jazz line followed her into the kitchen. The voice was soothing and smooth. Caitlin found herself singing along and swinging her hips as she made her hot cocoa. After washing off some of the writing, Caitlin sipped her hot cocoa and responded. 

‘She’s good. Very soothing.’

‘I always thought so. Turned on Me and Mrs. Jones.’

Good choice. Caitlin put on the next song in the search results. This one was peppier and Caitlin smiled at the beat. It was silent for awhile as the sounds of Linda Ronstadt filled her apartment. She wonders if Harrison had fallen asleep. 

‘This hot chocolate is terrible.’ Caitlin chuckles slightly. ‘It’s from three years ago. I really need to do some shopping.’

‘I think Big Belly Burger will miss your business.’

‘You noticed that? I’m not great at remembering to cook...or eat. My daughter worries I’ll starve to death.’

‘Ah. You’d die from dehydration long before you’d starve.’

‘That’s what I keep telling her. She does not find it amusing.’

She takes a second before broaching a subject that she’s not sure should be broached. 

‘You want to talk about why you can’t sleep?’

He doesn’t respond straight away. She sips the last dredge of her hot chocolate, puts the mug in the dishwasher and puts on “Me and Mrs. Jones” as she walks back to bed. Eventually;

‘Not tonight. I don’t think I’m going to be awake for much longer. Thank you.’

Caitlin smiles softly.   
‘You’re welcome. Glad I could help. Good night.’

‘Sweet dreams, Eliza.’

What. Caitlin examined the name. Why would he call her Eliza? She thought back and recalled a meeting in which Eliza had used her arm as a drawing board. She had doodled her own name multiple times on Caitlin’s arm as a visiting scientist droned on in the front of the room. He must of thought that was her name. 

An irrational part of her wanted to correct him but the logical part piped up. This makes things much easier. So, despite the small twist in her stomach Caitlin erased the conversation and drifted off to sleep.


	8. The Second Impression

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harrison gets a second chance at a first impression.

It was odd seeing Dr. Harrison Wells outside of the office. Like seeing your teacher outside of school. Your mind knew that they must lead lives outside of school but it took your eyes a moment to place them. 

Caitlin had first noticed him trying to decide between two avocados. Glaring at them actually. Quickly ducking into the nearest aisle in the grocery store, Caitlin put on the cardigan she had around her waist, grateful that she had in fact brought one. Then she didn’t know what to do. Should she approach Dr. Wells, should she ignore him, should she leave the store and do her shopping on another day?

She opted for ignoring him. Caitlin did not need this kind of stress on her day off. She continued her shopping gathering everything she’d need for the coming week. That is until she saw him for a second time staring confusedly at the frozen meats. Dear God. He was only a few steps from the deli counter and yet was looking at frozen chicken tenders.

This almost got her to approach. However, she once again steeled herself and moved over to the fresh fruits and vegetables. Let the man order some more Big Belly Burger. Do not engage. 

Finally, she saw him putting instant ramen in his cart. It broke her. No man over the age of 30 should be putting instant ramen noodles in his cart. She made sure her cardigan was over her arms and walked towards him. 

“Dr. Wells?” He startled at the name but composed himself quickly. However, his shoulders stayed tense even as his mind caught up with his eyes. 

“Dr. Snow.” There’s a rather awkward silence after he said her name. Harrison Wells seemed to be trying to look anywhere but directly at Caitlin Snow. Caitlin thought she probably should have just left the store. That is until something bright caught her eye. 

“So, you finally went to a doctor?” Dr. Wells seemed to consider her question before his eyes darted to the bright pink cast on his wrist. It had been a couple days since Caitlin had splinted it and Caitlin was getting increasingly worried that he hadn’t been to another doctor. 

“Oh. Yes. My daughter insisted.” Caitlin had the brief flash of the name Jesse that sometimes graced her arm. “She wanted me to thank you for splinting it. Said it was probably the only way she would have known.” Caitlin smiled softly. It was nice to know that even Dr. Wells, with his difficult personality, had someone who wanted him safe and healthy. 

“Always happy to ferry a reluctant patient to a doctor. Was the color her idea?” This made Dr. Wells smile. 

“No. That was all me I’m afraid. I thought it might embarrass her when I picked her up from a boy’s house. A kind of payback.” 

“And did that poorly thought out plan work?”

“It did not. She’s not embarrassed by much. The boy even complimented on the color. Said it was “woke” whatever the hell that means.” That actually made Caitlin laugh. The tension in Dr. Wells’ shoulder released with the sound. 

“Could you sound anymore like a crotchety old man yelling at kids to get off his lawn?”

“I could put on a voice if it would help.” She laughed again and, finally, for the first time during their conversation, she locked eyes with Dr. Wells. His eyes crinkled with amusement, interest and something else that she couldn’t quite place. The sustained eye contact became too much so Caitlin turned to his cart remembering there were more important matters to attend to. Not that Harrison Wells’ eye color wasn’t increasingly becoming top priority. 

“Ramen, Dr. Wells?” He had the good sense to look embarrassed. 

“I’ll admit that I am not a very good cook.” His eyes turned to her own cart full of fresh vegetables, fruits and grains. “Which you obviously are so the ramen is a little bit more embarrassing…”

“It was kind of a necessity. I had a lot of late nights in Grad school and I don’t think I could have eaten Big Belly Burger every day. No matter how much I might have wanted to.” Caitlin probably shouldn’t have mentioned the restaurant. She was trying very hard to keep what Dr. Wells told her separate from HG. It was better if they were looked at as two different people. Her feelings made more sense that way. Dr. Wells went a bit sheepish at the mention of the burger place. 

“We have our fair share of Big Belly Burger, I must admit.”   
“How does your wife feel about that?” She regrets the question as soon as it's out of her mouth. Dr. Wells tenses again and his eyes look downcast. Dead then. She felt a pang of agony for both Jesse and Dr. Wells. 

“Jesse’s mother is no longer with us.” Every bit of empathy within Caitlin screamed out as she was greeted with the image of Ronnie’s gravestone and the hours she had spent sitting on the grass next to it. She wondered if the empty space beside him was the reason he couldn’t sleep. Or had a hard time going home for that matter. 

Caitlin rummaged through her purse for a pen and paper. Quickly, aware of Dr. Wells’ eyes on her, she wrote a recipe down. Caitlin extended the piece of paper to Dr. Wells when she finished. 

“This is one of the easiest and most delicious recipes I know. You should try it.” Dr. Wells glanced at the piece of paper. 

“Chicken Noodle Soup. I’m not sure. I tend to burn things when I cook.” He rubbed the back of his head nervously. Caitlin thought she caught a glimpse of pre-particle accelerator Harrison Wells. The one who nervously adjusted his glasses and admired his mother. So she persisted. 

“Come on. You’re already in the grocery store. Try something new. Think of it like an experiment.” He perked up a little bit. “The hypothesis is that this recipe will be easy and taste delicious when you cook it. I’ll even help you get the ingredients.” Dr. Wells scanned over the recipe a bit more closely but still didn’t look convinced. She would have to break out the heavy guns. “It might be nice for your daughter.”

“Very well, Snow. Lead the way.” Got him. She’d start with cooked chicken. No reason to overwhelm him. 

It takes them altogether thirty minutes to gather all the ingredients and check out. Caitlin trying to gauge how comfortable Harrison is with cooking. The answer- complete amateur. He was “pretty sure” he owned a pot. She asked how it was that he cooked ramen if he wasn’t sure he owned a pot. He admitted that he had installed a hot water dispenser a couple years ago. Caitlin almost put on her judgmental face but then thought about all the uses of such a dispenser. She wondered if Dr. Wells would be able to install one for her. 

Dr. Harrison Wells followed along behind Dr. Snow. He made jokes, snarky comments and even asked interesting questions that even Caitlin hadn’t thought about (what was the inherent healing properties of chicken noodle soup…). All in all, Dr. Wells was everything that Caitlin had been wishing she had met at Jitters all those weeks ago.

They stood outside the store for longer than was strictly necessary neither wanting to head to their cars. It had been a nice moment between the two of them and it seemed that neither were ready for the moment to end. 

“Thank you for your help. It might be a nice change for Jesse.” 

“Maybe after a couple of tries we could upgrade you to pasta dishes.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” 

Caitlin smiled and they both stood for another moment under the store’s awning. Caitlin was hoping that Dr. Wells would have the strength to move away first because she wasn’t sure her feet could move from their spot. It felt like for the first time Caitlin had spent some time with HG instead of Dr. Harrison Wells. And that was terrifying. 

“Well, have a nice rest of your day, Dr. Snow.” Caitlin let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. 

“Yeah. You too, Dr. Wells.” A beat. Then Dr. Wells bobbed his head and turned to walk towards his car. Caitlin almost stopped him. She almost coughed to get his attention and invite him for coffee. She almost told him everything. 

But in the end, she turned and walked away.


	9. The Dinner Date (of sorts)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There may be something there that wasn't there before

She was in the kitchen cooking dinner when she felt an itching on her arm. She was still reeling from the polite and actually enjoyable interaction she had had with Dr. Wells earlier. Something had changed. The hopeful part of her was beginning to feed her new imaginary scenarios that it had given up when she had seen the handwriting on Harrison Wells’ whiteboard. A small voice was rekindling those old thoughts supplied with hard facts and evidence. Caitlin could feel herself losing the argument. So, as soon as she got home, she had pulled out the notebook containing all the very sound reasons she was not getting involved with Harrison Wells. Caitlin was content to find that the only reasons she could cross off where the last two concerning Dr. Wells’ personality. There were still more than enough reasons to logically follow her plan. 

 

‘Do you know how much salt to put in Chicken Noodle Soup?’ Caitlin smiled. He was trying her recipe. She grabbed a felt tipped pen without really thinking about it. Cooking advice outweighing her current predicament.

 

‘Depends on personal taste. A small pinch usually does the trick.’ She continued making her casserole for the week. A few moments passed and then;

 

‘Ok. Do you know if it’s supposed to be black? Because all the images I’m googling seem to point to the contrary.’ Black? How was that even possible?

 

‘No. It’s not supposed to be black.’ Did he leave it on the stove too long? That was the only thing she could think of. 

 

‘I thought not.’ That was it for another five minutes in which Caitlin tried to figure out what had gone wrong until her phone buzzed on the counter. It was a text from an unknown number. 

 

“So I’ve heard from a very reliable source that Chicken Noodle Soup   
is not supposed to be black. Is that correct? -Wells”

 

Caitlin quickly tapped out a response briefly wondering where he had gotten her number. 

 

“That is correct. Chicken Noodle Soup is not supposed to   
be black. Is your soup black?”

 

A beat. 

 

“Possibly…”

 

Caitlin hadn’t really believed Dr. Wells when he assured her that he was a terrible cook. She had assumed that meant he just didn’t cook very often. He had become rusty with disuse. But how does someone screw up chicken noodle soup to this degree?

 

“Guess we’re ordering pizza tonight. It was a nice experiment.  
Thank you for trying.”

 

Caitlin had a brief flash of Harrison Wells’ face when Caitlin had mentioned it might be a nice change for his daughter. It had lit up. The only thing that had convinced him to give the experiment a chance. 

 

She looked at the casserole she was putting in the oven. She could make one more.

 

“Give me forty five minutes and your address.”

 

There was definitely a hesitation over the phone but finally…

 

“1276 Birch Lane.”

 

The text made Caitlin smile as she pulled out a set of ingredients for another casserole. So they’d have one for the week. Her arm was itching again. 

 

‘Not to worry. Help is on the way.’ What was she doing? She needed to take a step back and pick up the notebook again. 

 

‘By the way do you know of a way to get black sludge off of a pan quickly? Like in forty five minutes or less?’ She should probably make side dishes too. 

 

**********************************************************************************

 

The house Caitlin pulled up to was absolutely not what she had been expected. A couple weeks ago, she definitely would have pegged him for living in a Bond villain mansion complete with a shark pits and sand traps. 

 

Instead, she was greeted by a small craftsman home with an adorable garden that covered the front yard. There wasn’t even a venus fly trap. 

 

Grabbing her carrying case from the front seat, Caitlin wove her way through the plants. She assumed that the garden was Dr. Wells’ pet project, not only because of the plants that covered his office but because of the tiny plaques with the scientific names of each plant. Nerd.

 

Before she even knocked, the door flung open and the face that had been drawn with her tongue out what seemed a lifetime ago poked out from behind the door. 

 

“His 911 call?” Her large blue eyes swept over Caitlin from head to toe. 

 

“That would be me.” Caitlin assumed the young woman was Jesse. She was softer looking than her father with a smile as wide as her face but it was those eyes that were all Harrison Wells. Sharp and calculating. 

 

Nodding her head, Jesse moved aside to allow Caitlin to enter into a small entryway with some beautiful stain glass gracing the window at the top of the stairs. 

 

“I swear I left him alone for thirty seconds and the fire alarm started going off. He’s kind of a disaster in the kitchen.” Jesse was heading for the back of the house as she talked. Caitlin smiled at the rapid speed which Jesse talked. It was such a difference from her father. 

 

“He mentioned that.” Jesse sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

 

“He did try though. Which was a nice change. Not that I don’t love Big Belly Burger. It’s just...not always, you know?” Caitlin nodded as the teen looked back at her. They were moving through the living room, another room full of wood tones and greenery. Caitlin’s attention were drawn to the photos on the fireplace. Particularly, the beautiful woman who must of been Jesse’s mother. 

 

She looked like so much fun. Always laughing in the pictures and pulling funny faces. Caitlin had to smile. It was like the smile in the photos was infectious. Caitlin could see all the soft features that Jesse had could be attributed to her mother. 

 

She replayed her conversation with Dr. Wells about his wife. Now that she thought about it, Caitlin had said “your wife” but Dr. Wells had said “Jesse’s mother”. Had they not been married? They certainly looked in love from the pictures. 

 

Suddenly, she bumped into Jesse who had stopped in front of her. 

 

“I didn’t introduce myself, did I?” Oh. She hadn’t actually. Thank God Caitlin hadn’t creepily said her name. 

 

“Actually, I think we skipped that part.” Jesse shook her head. 

 

“I’m so sorry. Sometimes my mouth runs faster than my manners.” The teen stuck out her hand, her bracelets shaking with the movement. “Jesse Wells, Dr. Wells’ daughter.” Caitlin offered her free hand. 

 

“Caitlin Snow. I’m temporarily working with Dr. Wells.” The gesture seemed to make Jesse notice Caitlin’s occupied hands. 

 

“Oh! You brought food! You sweet angel from heaven! Come to the kitchen!” Caitlin is forcibly dragged into the most beautiful kitchen she had ever seen. She took a moment to admire the large wall windows which contained french doors leading out to a lush patio. The large teal cabinets with adorably mismatched door knobs. The state of the art appliances and large farmhouse sink. Which Harrison Wells was currently scrubbing out a pot of black sludge in. 

 

There was a moment of silence as Harrison Wells looked caught in the act. His eyes landed on Jesse.

 

“I thought we agreed that you would keep her busy.” Jesse cocked an eyebrow. 

 

“I’m hungry. Sue me.” Caitlin held up the bag but her eyes were kind of glued on the mud caking the pot. 

 

“What happened?” It came out a bit more incredulously than it probably should have but dear lord, the man might be cursed. How did he even achieve that consistency?

 

“Honestly? I have no idea.” Finally, looking at her, Caitlin was mesmerized by the adorable half grin Dr. Wells was flashing her. Damn. “I told you I was a hopeless cook.”

 

“So, what’d you bring to compete against wet cement?” Jesse spoke up as she took the bag from Caitlin’s hand shaking Caitlin out of whatever had just made her brain go blank. Wells placed the pot back in the sink, wiped his hands with a towel and walked over to Caitlin. 

 

“Ah. So that’s why you needed forty five minutes. I just thought you were gearing up to yell at me.” Wells had his sleeves rolled up and Caitlin realized she had never seen him wearing casual clothes. It was odd seeing one of the greatest scientific mind of their generation in a baseball tee and ripped jeans. The ensemble threw Caitlin for another loop. Her mind stuttered as she responded. 

 

“It’s just two casseroles and a couple side dishes. You can put one in the fridge for later in the week. All you have to do is reheat it at 350 for ten minutes.” Harrison nodded and seemed to be pointedly looking at Jesse to remember that information. 

 

“That was very nice of you, Dr. Snow. I think in this area I might be unteachable.” Caitlin smiled and waved it off. 

 

“Ah. Everyone’s teachable. It just requires practice.” Jesse started to place the food on the counter and Caitlin decided that was her cue. “And with that I think I’ll head out. Enjoy your dinner and a little dish soap with water in that pot boiling will get that right off.” As she turned to go, Caitlin found her path blocked by Jesse. 

 

“No. Please stay. We would feel awful taking this delicious food without making sure you had some as well.” Caitlin hesitated. She was hungry but she didn’t know how much longer she could stay in the house with Dr. Wells in ripped jeans flashing small smiles her way. It was getting a bit mushy in her head. The man himself piped up from where he was getting out plates. Three plates, Caitlin noticed. 

 

“Of course you should stay. We want you to eat the first bite of each casserole to make sure they aren’t poisoned.” It was so deadpan that Caitlin’s addled brain didn’t register what was said until she noticed Jesse’s sly grin. Man, she needed to get her head in the game. 

 

“Ah. The question is not if the casseroles are poisoned though. The question is which one?” Wells grabbed some silverware from a drawer with a jade elephant door knob.

 

“Well, that’s simple. All I have to do is divine what I know of you. Are you someone who would put the poison in their own casserole or their enemies?” Caitlin’s eyes narrowed.

 

“You’ve made your decision then?” Wells smirked.

 

“Not remotely.” Jesse started laughing and all three of them chimed in. 

 

“Never go up against a Sicilian when death is on the line!” Caitlin decided that there wouldn’t be any harm in having one dinner. 

 

**********************************************************************************  
Caitlin walks Jesse through the steps to reheat the casserole and even shows her how to make a small chocolate pudding for dessert. Caitlin decides she really likes Jesse. Not only is she sweet and funny, she is extremely intelligent. However, the whole time they’re preparing the food, Jesse keeps shooting Caitlin these looks. It’s like she wishes she could ask something but every time Caitlin glances back, Jesse seems to think better of whatever she wants to ask and stops. 

 

They all sit down at a large dining room table that’s been made out of a tree trunk and Caitlin doesn’t remember a time when she’s felt more at home in an unfamiliar place. The conversation moves from topics like nuclear physics to who should have won RuPaul’s Drag Race last season (Wells asserted that Naomi Smalls should have won). One moment she was discussing an aspect of the tech problem that Wells was working on for Dr. McGee and the next she was turning to Jesse for a conversation about the possibilities and limitations of cloning. Which, of course, turned the conversation to Orphan Black. 

 

Both Wells’ concurred that Caitlin’s home cooked meal was the best thing they had eaten in a long time and how grateful they were that there was another in the fridge for them to enjoy. After dinner and dessert, Caitlin helped with the clean up. She instructed Dr. Wells through cleaning his pot and laughed when he admitted that he got a bit distracted with a new formula for Barry and had burnt the soup to a degree he didn’t know was possible. 

 

At the end of the night, Caitlin found herself in a similar situation that she had been in earlier. Dr. Wells had sent Jesse up to her room to finish some homework as he walked Caitlin to the door. Jesse had rolled her eyes at the request. 

 

“I don’t have a bedtime anymore Dad.” Wells smiled at his daughter.

 

“Ah but you do still have homework, don’t you?”

 

“Just reading.”

 

“Still needs to be read.” Jesse seemed to acquiesce at that. The young woman waved to Caitlin as she headed towards her room. 

 

“Thank you Dr. Snow. It was really nice to meet you. Feel free to drop by anytime with more delicious food and possibly all seasons of Orphan Black.” Caitlin thought how nice that would be.

 

“It was nice meeting you to Jesse. I’ll be sure to bring them.” With that, Jesse kissed her father on the cheek and left to do her reading. 

 

Leaving Caitlin with the man himself on the front porch. Dr. Wells ran a hand through his wild hair and Caitlin felt another strange feeling in her stomach.

 

“Thank you for the food, Dr. Snow. It would have probably been another take out night if you hadn’t shown up.”

 

“It’s no trouble at all, Dr. Wells.” 

 

“You can drop the Dr if you wish.” It was Caitlin’s turn to smirk.

 

“Oh, is my cooking really that good?”

 

“Yes. Yes it is. I’m going to have to stop myself from eating the other casserole all by myself.” 

 

“Remember to reheat it just put it in the oven at 350 degrees for ten minutes.”

 

“I think I can remember that.” 

 

“There’s a post it on the casserole just in case.” He nodded.

 

“Good thinking. I definitely would have forgotten.” Caitlin chuckled and felt that it was the right time to leave. 

 

“Well, good night. Wells.” 

 

“Yes. Good night, Dr. Snow.” Caitlin turned and made her way down the porch steps careful to avoid the plant life. Until she heard a cough from behind her. 

 

“Dr. Snow?” She glanced back. Harrison Wells stood with his back straight looking at her directly. 

 

“Yes, Wells?” His eyes seemed to be looking directly into her soul. 

 

“I am sorry for my actions. They were not appropriate and not respectful to you as a scientist or co-worker. I am working towards a better me but I am still under construction. Thank you for being kind in spite of everything.” Under the porchlight, apologizing for his behavior, Caitlin was struck. Dr. Harrison Wells was actually quite handsome. And kind. And trying so damn hard. And she was having another panic attack. 

 

“Thank you, Wells. I appreciate that.” She managed to squeak out as she retreated to her car. The logical side of her brain saying she had to get out of there as soon as possible and the other side trying to commit the way the light fell on Harrison Wells’ hair. 

 

Getting into her car, Caitlin knew she had overstepped an invisible boundary and was moving into dangerous territory. She hated the butterflies that were currently churning in her stomach.


	10. The Pinky Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harrison Wells' history with soulmates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to take a second to thank everyone who left a comment, a kudo or even has just kept reading this story. It's been so overwhelming to see such support. Hopefully, I'll be able to do a chapter each week from now on. On another note, a couple people have been excited to see when Harrison will find out that Caitlin is his soulmate. I'm sorry to say its still a little ways off but I hope it will be worth it! Thank you all so much for your kind words and enthusiasm!

Harrison forgot to check his arm for marks on his 18th birthday. At the time, he had been dealing with a pressing quantum physics problem that had him stumped. It was only after his mother had rushed into his room excitedly asking about his soulmate that Harrison even remembered it was his birthday at all. 

 

This fact did not surprise his mother. Harrison had always been a very curious child who often forgot basic facts in favor of more pressing scientific inquiries. A personality trait that always made his mother smile and grimace at the same time. She had always been much more concerned with her social life than academia in her younger years. However, her child prefered the company of old books to that of his peers. 

 

Harrison had rolled up his sleeves and checked both sides of his arms. Nothing. His mother had giggled and suggested that she leave the room while he checked other places. Harrison’s face curled in disgust as his mother left but he did check everywhere. He found nothing. 

 

His mother looked a bit disappointed when he revealed this information at the dinner table but she assured Harrison that it wasn’t unusual to not find notes on the first day. However, she brandished her spatula like a weapon when she told him that he would have to make sure to check often over the next couple of days or even weeks.

 

It was over the next five years, that his mother’s enthusiasm and confidence faded. With every passing phone conversation and text message, Harrison could feel the pity and concern radiating from his mother. It was a common conversation between the two of them; his mother talking about all the possibilities while Harrison continued to work on other academic problems that were of more interest to him

 

It took seven years for his mother to decide that Harrison needed to talk to someone other than her. She showed up unexpectedly at his apartment, a monumental three states over from where she lived and drove him forcibly to a soulmate anonymous meeting for similar sob stories. The small Italian woman had all but dragged him to the car by his ear. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that he had long given up hope that anyone was on the other end of his connection.

 

The first meeting was awkward as everything involving other people was for Harrison Wells. He listened to people whose soulmates had died, whose soulmates were romantically involved with other people, and even one person like him who never got any writing. A million times during the first thirty minutes Harrison thought about escaping and hiding in the library from his mother. But she would find him. She always found him. So, he supposed if this gave his mother comfort, he could come every week and just sit.

 

Soon, the group conversation finally came to Harrison and the man who was leading the meeting asked for his story. He really wasn’t sure what to say. He supposed he could start with the truth and hopefully they’d just move on.

 

“I haven’t gotten any writing in seven years.” He said it very matter of factly. It was the only way he knew how to say it. 

 

A woman with bright green eyes stared into him. He wondered if he had something on his face.

 

“You don’t seem bothered by that.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement that threw Harrison. No one else had gotten that kind of response. He coughed to clear his throat and head. Well, here it goes.

 

“That’s probably because I’m not. I don’t necessarily believe in this whole soulmate...thing” A couple people’s expression turned from indifference to intense interest. One woman scoffed loudly. However, Harrison was focused on the green eyed woman who leaned in a bit.

 

“And why not?” Harrison almost launched into all the research that supported his hypothesis. It was a controversial opinion. One that usually lead to screaming debates. But...the soft tone of voice suggested a real question as opposed to a set up. This woman wasn’t asking about the scientific reasons. She was asking for Harrison Wells’ reasons. 

 

“My mother and my father were soulmates. College sweethearts who loved each other with every fiber of their being. And when I was 10, he left. He just left. How can someone leave the other half of their heart?” He had never articulated that before. His father had left a gaping hole in their family and despite his mother always standing strong with Harrison, he could hear her tears through the walls of their thin apartment.

 

Harrison had decided at that time that soulmates didn’t exist and the marks on your arm were no guarantee of a happily ever after.

 

“But you write on your own arm?” She gestured to the black marks on his arm. Harrison glanced at his own handwriting. That had started when his mother had suggested he write something. Just in case. So, in a bid to make his mother happy, Harrison had taken to write his formulas on his arms. Harrison found that it actually helped his thought process tremendously so it became habit. However, was there a part of him that was subconsciously still reaching out for somebody?

 

He looked back to the green eyed woman who smiled. He could only imagine the expression on his face that prompted her to smile and say, 

 

“Ah. Not an altogether lost cause then.”

 

**********************************************************************************

 

Her name was Tess and she was every piece of light that Harrison had never thought he would get to see. She had lost her soulmate two years earlier and despite the real hurt that Harrison felt every time she talked about him, Tess firmly believed that she would find love again. Even though she confided that she would never marry again. Harrison Wells couldn’t believe he was lucky enough to be the man Tess Morgan fell in love with. 

 

They had seventeen blissful years together. Seventeen years of laughter, smiles and tears. Eight years with their beautiful Jesse and Harrison didn’t think life could get any better. 

 

When they found Tess’ melanoma, Harrison didn’t think life could get any worse. As Harrison watched Tess slip away, he often found himself wondering if this was a comparable pain to what his mother had felt when his dad left. His heart broke every day. There were days when Tess would get better and it would feel like heaven had granted him a miracle. But after a few days Tess would get worse and the pit Harrison couldn’t escape would swallow him once again. 

 

It was on one of these days that Tess was feeling a little bit better that Tess made her last request. She was well enough to have a nice picnic in the park with Harrison and Jesse. It was beautiful and perfect. The family felt like they were back in the Golden Age. While Jesse was playing on the swing set, Tess turned to Harrison

 

“I want you to promise me that you’ll try to meet her before you date anyone else.” Harrison knew she was talking his soulmate. 

 

Two years earlier, Harrison had been working on his plans for the particle accelerator, a dream that was consuming most of his days. He had been awake for thirty two hours straight. Briefly looking away from his blueprints to grab his coffee mug which was almost empty, his eyes skimmed over a formula on his arm. His sleeplessness was probably the reason that he didn’t fully process the new black marks. However, within ten seconds and a double take, Harrison realized that the markings on his arm where in fact from someone else’s hand. A long formula which seemed oddly familiar. He grabbed a black marker from his caddy and wrote a question mark. Harrison would later attribute the impulsive move to his overwhelming exhaustion. Looking closer at the formula, he finally placed it. It was a formula from years ago when he had a brief foray into biology which Harrison knew to be his weak point. A foray which was halted when Harrison was hired by Mercury labs. He never did figure out what was wrong with his formula for improving blood thinners. Until it was written correctly on his arm apparently. The blood flow! Of course! He had forgotten to account for the blood flow. He penned a quick exclamation mark before passing out on his desk. Tess must have put some sleeping medicine in his coffee. Again.

 

The next morning, it all really hit him. Someone was there. They were finally there. Dear lord. They were so much younger than him. He assumed that she probably wasn’t 18 since the formula was so advanced. Harrison would have placed her at about mid- 20s based on the formula but what is she was a prodigy? He felt like life loved playing cruel jokes on him.

 

For her part, Tess thought it was the funniest thing in the world. She kept smiling at the formula when she thought he wasn’t looking. It was also Tess that had encouraged Harrison to keep writing on his arm despite his original hesitation. She said that Harrison should at least learn something about this soulmate he had waited on. Harrison pouted, assuring Tess that he had only ever been waiting on her. She had smiled, kissed him but kept insisting. Finally, Harrison compromised and started to write formulas of his own for the girl to figure out. At first, it was a clever plot to discern how old she was, what kind of education she had and a placation for Tess but somewhere along the line it became a kind of partnership. Tess was an artist and although they both took a genuine interest in the others career, Tess couldn’t help with Harrison’s work anymore than Harrison could help Tess with a painting. 

 

From then on, if Harrison found himself struggling with something in his work, he reached out to “Eliza”; a name that had come about a year after the first formula. Tess took to calling her his Eliza Doolittle because it made Harrison wrinkle his nose in the way that made her cackle. Looking at Tess, Harrison couldn’t imagine anyone else, even Eliza, being quite as perfect. 

 

So, when Tess made her request, a dying request she was sure to add as he stalled, Harrison found it hard to deny her. Harrison Wells would always give Tess Morgan anything she wanted. Tess passed a couple days after their pinky promise in the park. His heart stopped when hers did. Harrison Wells was sure that his time with romantic love was up. A watch that was too broken to ever run again.

 

Four years later, staring at Dr. Caitlin Snow who had taken hours out of her own schedule to help someone she didn’t even particularly like, Harrison Wells feared that he heard ticking.


	11. The Thought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caitlin Snow makes an admission to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for bearing with me guys. One more slow chapter and then we'll get into some more conflict. Hope you are enjoying this tortuously slow burn romance :)

It was hard to believe it was only 11PM but the clock on the Med Bay’s wall assured Caitlin Snow of that fact. After the day she had had, it felt more like 3AM as her body and mind yawned from exhaustion. She looked over at Barry Allen, who was peacefully snoozing on the Med Bay table. She was so glad he was okay. 

 

They were lucky Barry Allen made it back to the cortex before collapsing. In the middle of a brutal fight against the latest big bad in Central City, Barry’s heart rate had slowed dramatically. Caitlin had quickly started checking every vital conveying her concern to Cisco as well as Dr. Wells. The second he heard the concern in Caitlin’s voice, Dr. Wells had yelled for Barry to get back to STAR labs. However, Barry, stupid, heroic Barry, decided that he would take care of the menacing bank robber before returning. This meant the group had to watch as Barry Allen’s body began shutting down two miles from STAR labs. It had been a teeth clenching few minutes as Cisco and Caitlin watched Barry’s vitals drop as Harrison Wells cursed up a storm in the corner. They were relieved when Barry, weak and wobbly, appeared in the middle of the room. But were immediately terror struck as Barry fell to the floor. 

 

She knew that Barry had been training hard over the last couple weeks after narrowly missing a metahuman who could predict his movements. A meta who was responsible for the murder of a suburban housewife who bore more than a passing resemblance to Barry’s own mother. Barry figured getting faster would be the only way to insure the meta’s capture. Looking over his vitals, it became obvious to Caitlin that Barry had definitely been overworking himself. It looked to her like Barry Allen hadn’t been sleeping, eating or doing really much of anything besides training. His body couldn’t handle the kind of strain he had been putting on it and had collapsed.

 

A loud snore interrupted Caitlin’s thoughts. She smiled at its source, a sleeping Cisco Ramon in the corner. He was contorted in the most uncomfortable position and had a piece of paper stuck to his face. He had tried to help Caitlin earlier but finding Caitlin had everything under control, Cisco decided to work on some of his own projects while they monitored Barry. It had taken all of five minutes for Cisco to be out like a light. Caitlin was glad for one. Cisco was almost as bad as Barry working on equipment to help combat metas. 

 

She returned her attention to Barry, particularly Barry’s pulse which she was checking at the top of the hour. However, before she could check, Caitlin noticed a series of big red marks on Barry’s forearm that read; ‘Barry Allen. If you do not respond within the hour I will be forced to hunt you down. So if you do not want me making a phone call to one Detective Joe West and the Central City police station, pick up your phone.’ 

 

Caitlin was instantly filled with dread. In the chaos of the afternoon, they had forgotten to tell Joe and Iris about Barry’s condition.

 

“Cisco!” Cisco jolted from his uncomfortable position standing alert at Caitlin’s punctured call. 

 

“What? What’s wrong?” The piece of paper that had been stuck to his face fluttered to the ground. Caitlin pointed to Barry’s arm and Cisco’s face fell as he read it. “Crap!”

 

“I know. Will you go get Barry’s cell phone and let them know everything’s alright?” Cisco nodded and started for the locker room where Barry kept his stuff. Caitlin thought about Iris and Joe. “Actually, it might be better if you head over there too. I don’t think a text will be enough for Iris.” Cisco nodded again.

 

“I’ll be back soon.” Caitlin could tell Cisco had pulled some all nighters recently. He really needed to sleep. They didn’t need two of their team collapsing.

 

“It’s fine. I’ll stay with Barry. You go home once you’re done with the Wests.” Cisco looked like he wanted to protest but his mouth let out a large yawn instead. 

 

“Yeah. Ok. But tomorrow you have to go home and get some sleep too.” Caitlin smiled and assented. Satisfied, Cisco went to reassure the Wests and make sure that the gang didn’t have the full police force beating down their doors. 

 

A couple hours later, Caitlin got a text from Cisco letting Caitlin know that Iris was glad to hear Barry was not dead and would be around in the morning to pick him up for some rest at home. Iris had apparently wanted to come over that night but Cisco insisted that Caitlin was taking good care of Barry and there was no reason for Iris to exhaust herself with worry watching over Barry. The reason the text came so many hours after Cisco had told Iris was because it took that long to convince Iris to get some sleep. Caitlin wouldn’t have minded the company actually but in the end she was glad that Iris was getting some sleep so she could be fresh to take care of Barry tomorrow. 

 

For her part, Caitlin was well on her way to creating a good training schedule for Barry. She wanted to make sure this wasn’t going to happen again. She was in the middle of turning to grab a chart from the cortex when she ran into Harrison Wells who was coming through the doorway. 

 

“Oh!” She was knocked a bit off balance by the man’s sudden appearance and he reached out to steady her. His hands were warm and rough. They were comforting, grounding even. 

 

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.” Her heart rate returned from its sudden spike but the butterflies in her stomach didn’t settle. 

 

“I thought you had left.” It was the truth. After discerning that Barry would be fine and the reasons for his collapse, Harrison Wells had retreated to his office and Caitlin had assumed he had gone home. Things between them were much more civil after the black chicken noodle soup incident. Friendly even; the two trading banter like they were a leading pair in a 1940s film. Caitlin kept trying to convince herself that the change in their dynamic was good for their work and nothing more. Dr. Wells, still holding her shoulders, graced her with a rare smile. It did not make her heart skip a beat. 

 

“To be honest, I forgot you were still here until I checked the security monitor. I was coming out to check on you and Mr. Allen.” With that, his hands dropped and he moved over to Barry. Caitlin hated that she missed the warmth on her shoulders when it was gone. Dr. Wells checked over the screens and Barry while Caitlin told him about Iris, Joe and Cisco. He nodded and grunted at the appropriate times but he kept his eyes on the task of checking Barry. She was surprised at how effective he was, a fact that must of been plastered all over her face because when Harrison looked up at her, he raised his eyebrow. “You don’t have to look so surprised. I can do basic medical check ups.” Caitlin smirked.

 

“But not basic culinary recipes.” Wells pouted a bit but nodded. 

 

“No. That has been outside my considerable knowledge base. However, I’ll have you know I made a grilled cheese sandwich for Jesse yesterday and only burnt myself twice.” Caitlin couldn’t help but laugh. 

 

“Which is where your basic medical knowledge came in handy.”

 

“Exactly. Jesse even said the sandwich was ‘edible’.”

 

“High praise indeed.” Wells nodded and the two stood for a second in comfortable silence. The silence caused Caitlin’s exhaustion to catch up with her and she let out a large yawn. Wells chuckled a bit. 

 

“Go home, Snow. I can stay with Allen for the night.” Caitlin brushed him off. 

 

“No. You go home and see Jesse. I’ll stay.” Harrison shook his head. 

 

“Jesse’s at a friend’s house. And I have nothing else going on tonight.” Caitlin bristled a little. 

 

“Well, neither do I.” They stood staring stubbornly at one another before Dr. Wells starting laughing softly and quietly questioned himself.

 

“I’m sorry. Was that sad to admit?” Caitlin couldn’t help but giggle a bit at how ridiculous it all was. 

 

“Yes. But I think it’s sadder for me to respond like it’s a competition on who has less of a life.”

 

“I won’t tell if you won’t.”

 

“Deal.” At that, something caught Wells’ eyes. He pointed to the training program that Caitlin had been working on. 

 

“For Allen?” Caitlin moves over to the computer he’s pointing towards and takes a seat.

 

“Yes. He’s been working himself ragged. This should be a better regimen for him to improve but not at the cost of his health.” Wells leans over her seat to get a closer look at the program. Caitlin tries not to notice that Wells smells like machine oil and peppermint. It’s interesting that she doesn’t smell any hair product though. 

 

“May I?” His hand hovers over where hers is on the mouse. 

 

“Be my guest.” Caitlin moves her hand and their hands brush briefly. Caitlin tries to ignore how close Wells is as he moves around some parts of the training to better suit Barry. 

 

They spend the next hour going over every aspect of the routine and Caitlin enjoys every second of it. She had forgotten how much she enjoyed collaborating. Bouncing ideas off each other, arguing about certain variables, sharing joy when you get it just right. It reminds Caitlin that Harrison Wells was one of the most respected scientists of their time for a reason. She wonders if he misses the days when every scientist wanted his opinion. 

 

As the night moved into the morning, Caitlin’s yawning was getting more frequent and her eyelids felt like magnets being pulled towards her cheeks. Wells pulled off his glasses and rubbed his own eyes. 

 

“Well, Snow. If I’m not going to convince you to go home at least go get some sleep on the couch in my office.” Caitlin tried to say something to the contrary but only ended up yawning again. 

 

“Yeah. That’s probably a good idea. Good night, Wells.” Harrison Wells tilted his head up to smile at her. God, she needed to get a handle on this.

 

“Good morning, Snow.” 

 

With that, Caitlin headed to Dr. Wells office and snuggled into his sofa. It was surprisingly comfortable and the forest green blanket draped over the top felt like kitten fluff. As she drifted off to sleep, Caitlin felt a familiar itching on her arm. He must be consulting her about Barry’s routine. She doesn’t answer it. She’d help him more tomorrow when she’s...well, “Eliza” would help him tomorrow...possibly both. And with that sleep overtook her. 

 

**********************************************************************************

 

She wakes up to the sounds of Michael Buble and looking around she’s greeted with the sight of Harrison Wells asleep at his desk. Checking the time, Caitlin assumes that Iris must have arrived and relieved Wells of his watch. She spends a few moments quietly fixing herself up so she could head home, writing a note for Dr. Wells to let him know. Placing the note on his desk, Caitlin saw that Wells was shivering a bit in his sleep. Without really thinking, Caitlin placed the forest green blanket over his shoulders and took a step back. 

 

A thought occurred to her. What would it be like to wake up everyday with someone beside her who wasn’t going to leave? It had been quite a long time since that had even been a possibility in her life. She wondered what it would be like to have someone waiting for her when she got home after work. Then she wondered what it would be like to have Harrison Wells waiting for her at the end of the day. Or more likely them dragging each other home after work, each taking turns to drag the other, with Jesse dragging them both home sometimes. Harrison Wells being the person that Caitlin turned to when she had a problem or told when she had success. Harrison Wells being the first thing Caitlin Snow saw in the morning and the last thing she saw at night. 

 

It was there in the early morning that Caitlin admitted, if only to herself, that a piece of her wanted that more than she’d ever wanted anything. And the other part of her was holding on to the memory of sitting alone at Jitters waiting for a soulmate who would never show up.


	12. The New Resolve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harrison finds out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Jay isn't really a villain in this. He's essentially Hunter Zolomon on Earth 1 but I thought it would be easier to just say Jay. Also sorry for the long hiatus!

Harrison blearily opened his eyes. He was glad he had the foresight to take his glasses off when he sat down even though it meant his already blurry vision was aggravated by sleep. Rubbing his eyes, he smiled at the feeling of the blanket around his shoulders. Caitlin. She must of gone home and given her blanket to Harrison before she left. 

His thoughts were often on Caitlin Snow and the quandary of her appearance in his life. He admitted that he could easily see himself falling for Dr. Snow with her kindness and quiet strength. He wasn’t in love with her but there was a warm familiarity in his interactions with her that made him feel human for the first time in quite awhile. She was the type of person who gave and gave and gave without thinking about themselves. It was a type of person that attracted takers like Harrison. There was something comforting to know that his heart hadn’t quite given up on him yet. But he had long decided that he wouldn’t want someone who gave with all their heart. He would absolutely take advantage of someone like that. Even with Tess they had only been able to give so much to the other. 

Tess.

He had made a promise. He had promised Tess that before getting involved with anyone else, a situation which had seemed laughable at the time, Harrison Wells would meet his soulmate. However, that was proving more complicated than it had sounded over their pinky promise.

At one point, Eliza had written what was obviously a reminder to herself on her arm;  
Jitters Coffeeshop. Weds. 11am. Don’t be late. 

Harrison had stared at the reminder for days. He knew that coffeeshop. He went to that coffeeshop regularly. And Eliza was going to be there on Wednesday. 

He had almost gathered the courage to go and meet her then. Just casually walk in, find Eliza and tell her everything. He had even gotten ready that morning with extra care and walked towards Jitters. However, like the namesake, Harrison Wells got his own set of jitters about a block away and turned back towards STAR labs. 

Sitting in his office, he convinced himself that there had been too much pressure on their meeting. Nothing casual, nothing relaxed, and certainly nothing that Harrison Wells was equipped to deal with. He justified that there was plenty of time to meet Eliza, given that it was unlikely he would meet anyone else, and there was no reason to rush something that you admittedly weren’t a hundred percent sure about. 

And then Caitlin Snow had stood up to him. 

Caitlin Snow had stared him coldly in the eyes and told him in no uncertain terms that everyone made mistakes. She had refused to budge when so many others in her place had moved. It was...strange. People had been on edge with Harrison ever since the particle accelerator debacle. Afraid that if they said or did the wrong thing, they might end up on the other end of another Wells’ catastrophe. Even Cisco and Barry tended to give the older scientist a wide berth. But Caitlin didn’t. She got very close and very personal. This was one thing Caitlin wasn’t willing to give and that gave Harrison pause. 

He knew his behavior after the explosion had become increasingly erratic and nasty. Harrison was still dealing with the fact that he was responsible for so many lives lost and hearts broken. At the time, Harrison found that if he were to feel the weight of that burden, it would surely break him. So, he decided not to feel it. He would atone by helping Barry be the hero he couldn’t. That would be enough. 

However, looking down at this small brunette glaring daggers at him as he faked his way through an empty threat, he felt that tremor of guilt that had never truly gone away. Harrison’s way of dealing with the pain wasn’t working. It was just delaying the inevitable. He needed to be better and Harrison decided that there might not be any better model for being a good person than Caitlin Snow. 

Which all led back to his current predicament. He needed to meet his soulmate and fast before whatever he was starting to feel for Caitlin cemented in his mind. Besides there was little to no chance that Dr. Snow would return any of his feelings. She wouldn’t say but Harrison suspected that she was waiting on her own soulmate. He imagined that it wouldn’t be long before some equally kind giver came around and the two became blissfully happy. He figured the blow would be a little easier to deal with if he had Eliza’s witty responses and comforting words. It would even easier if he could see Eliza as she said them. He should ask her to meet at Jitters. 

Satisfied with his new plan, Harrison placed his glasses on his nose and saw a note on his desk. Glancing over the looping letters, Harrison got the distinct feeling that something about the handwriting was ridiculously familiar. He assumed the note was from Caitlin and to confirm his suspicions he pulled out the chicken noodle soup recipe she had given him from his pants pocket (he also took a moment to contemplate whether he should do more loads of laundry or buy more pants). 

They were the same handwriting. The same curved letters with the light pressure. However, there was something about the c. Something eerily similar about the flick of the c that Harrison knew from somewhere else. 

That’s when it hit him. It was definitely the c that Eliza wrote. In fact, the e was slanted in the same way that Eliza wrote. And the i was a circle instead of a dot. 

Harrison stomach dropped. He tried to process this new information but for once in his life, Harrison Wells found he was thoughtless. 

**********************************************************************************

Caitlin Snow was having her own crisis standing in line for coffee at Jitters. It had been a couple days since the black chicken noodle soup incident and her late night realization. Since that night, Caitlin was finding herself at Jitters more and the lab less. She was having a hard time interacting with Harrison but she was particularly having a hard time looking at him. Before her realization that she could see herself with Harrison Wells for the long haul she had begun noticing just how handsome Harrison was and that was proving distracting enough.

The team would be in the cortex working on the possibility of Barry vibrating through solid object and Caitlin would notice Wells running one of his hands through his hair. Caitlin would be checking Barry’s vital signs and Wells would be slightly smiling at her from the cortex causing traitorous butterflies to rustle in her stomach. It got worse when he decided to roll up his sleeves to work on the dialysis machine for Dr. McGee. Not only did the man have ridiculously attractive forearms but seeing her own handwriting on her soulmate’s arms stirred something primal in Caitlin. 

However, it wasn’t just how attractive he was, it was how kind, funny and genuine he was. Since the soup incident, Harrison would bring in a coffee for her and one for him most days. When asked about it by Cisco, Dr. Wells had smiled;

“I like her better. I thought that was obvious.” Cisco had grumbled the whole day after that. The next day he brought everyone coffee but proudly presented her with a muffin as well. He was always honest with her. She could see that ever since blackmailing her, Harrison had made a real effort to be respectful when discussing work. He would ask for her opinions and if he found a problem with her work, he approached her gently. He had even smiled brightly when she pointed out one of his own small mistake;

“Well, as someone once told me, anyone can make a mistake.” Harrison’s smirk was so handsome Caitlin had to remind herself to breathe. 

She had to stop pretending she wasn’t going to get attached. She was already attached. She knew that now. At this point, Caitlin needed to either tell Harrison the truth or go back to Mercury labs. She really only had a finite time before she would have no excuse to stay at STAR labs anyway. Harrison was closing in on a solution to their tech problem and after implementing their new training regiment Barry’s vitals were improving as well as his skills.

It would be incredibly selfish, not to mention self destructive, to keep this charade up. Plus there were Harrison’s feelings to consider. She was sure he at least liked her as a person but she wondered if there was anything more? Then she wondered if telling him would put too much pressure on him. Or if it would put too much pressure on herself. Once it was out there, Caitlin really had no control over the situation which made her vaguely ill. 

Picking up her cup of coffee, Caitlin hoped she had another thirty minutes to sit and contemplate before someone noticed her absence. 

“Excuse me, miss. I believe that one’s mine.” Caitlin nearly dropped the coffee she was holding at the sound of a deep voice. She turned to apologize only to be greeted by a dazzling smile. The man in front of her was very handsome. His comic book jawline and build reminded her of Ronnie but it was his smile that truly cemented the comparison. It was warm and sweet. And he was staring at her. Because she still had his coffee. Caitlin blushed a bit and thrust the coffee towards him. 

“I’m so sorry. I guess I wasn’t paying attention.” She handed off the coffee but not without noticing a telephone number on the cup. Caitlin glanced back at the Barista who quickly ducked her head when she was caught staring at the two of them. Well, that tracks. “And now I’m even more embarrassed. I swear I didn’t mean to get in your way.” 

The man turned to where she was looking and his cheeks turned a little red as the Barista shot him a little wave. He chuckled a bit as he waved back. 

“Oh, no. I mean, it’s flattering but I actually just really need this caramel mocha right now. It’s been a rough day.”

“Tell me about it.” It was out of her mouth before she could stop herself. Broad shoulder’s smile turned a watt up. 

“Over dinner?” Caitlin was a little taken aback. Was he asking her out? Looking at his face to confirm, she found a mixture of charming, smug and hopeful. Definitely asking her out then. 

“Oh. Um.” Caitlin had no idea what to say to that. Jawline took a step back. 

“You’re right. I should introduce myself before I pull that kind of move. Jay Garrick.” He held out his hand for Caitlin to shake. Caitlin took it and smiled at the forwardness. Another tick in his similarity to Ronnie. Act first, think later. 

“Caitlin Snow.”

“Pleasure to meet you. Now, would you like to have dinner with me? Or if that’s too much, we could have coffee.” He smirked down at his cup. “And would you look at that, we’re halfway there.” Caitlin had to be honest, a couple months ago this interaction would have been enough. Caitlin would have smiled and suggested they start with coffee but if that went well, they could see about dinner plans. They would head over to the window seat where Jay would probably pull out her chair for her and they would talk for hours. Finally, they would agree to have dinner. At dinner, they would agree that they both had a lovely time and that they wanted to see each other again. A couple months in, Jay would ask her to move in and she would with a great big smile on her face. Then would come marriage, kids, and everything that would make for a beautiful, conventional life together. 

But there in the front of her mind was the image of Harrison Wells under the porch light with his soft voice and gentle smile.

“That’s so sweet but I’m going have to say no. I’m sorry, Jay.” Caitlin watches as Jay digests her answer and to his credit there’s no flash of anger or sadness. Just respectful nods. He smiles a bit. 

“Boyfriend? Soulmate?” Caitlin glances at her forearm. 

“Sort of. Not sure yet.” She probably should have been a bit more firm but she really didn’t know what to say. 

“Well, I know I probably shouldn’t but would you take my number at least? I would kick myself if I didn’t at least give you my number.” Caitlin considered the offer and figured there wasn’t any harm in that. She was never going to use it but she wanted to help Jay save a little bit of his pride. She nodded. At that moment, the barista called Caitlin’s name and before Caitlin could get her coffee Jay grabbed it, writing his number on her coffee cup. Smiling that charming smile that would have made Caitlin’s heart flutter before Harrison Wells, he handed her her coffee. 

“It was a pleasure to meet you Caitlin Snow. Thanks for the caramel mocha.” With that, he winked and headed out the door. She smiled at the amount of heads that turned to watch him walk out, both male and female. Caitlin had to admit the broad shoulders were nice but she couldn’t help but wish they were a little thinner and his hair stood up just a bit more. 

She had to tell him. Soon.

**********************************************************************************

Harrison Wells had been staring at the equation on the board for about thirty minutes now. It had been a couple days since he had figured out who Caitlin was. Or who Eliza was. He was having trouble figuring out which was which.

He had quickly deduced after his initial shock that Caitlin had to know. He had made no attempt to hide his handwriting and he often pushed his sleeves up at the lab. So the question became not whether she knew but it was why she hadn’t said anything? He knew that she probably was in complete shock for the first couple days. Then of course he had pulled the stunt with her job. But lately he had really thought they were connecting. Yet she still didn’t say anything. 

There was really only one explanation and it hurt him more than he wanted to admit. Caitlin Snow didn’t want Harrison Wells to be her soulmate. And he found that he really couldn’t blame her. He had told her early on that he wasn’t known for his winning personality. 

He was irascible and unpredictable. He had a hard time letting people in. It was also hard to ignore how much older he was than her. Even if there was a remote possibility that she had some sort of feelings for Harrison, he kept coming up with reasons that Caitlin Snow was too good for him. 

“Dr. Wells? If you have x-ray vision that allows you to see through whiteboards you have to tell us. We’d have to put you in the pipeline but you would go to our top secret prison for metas knowing you were doing it for the greater good.” Right. He rubbed his eyes and turned to Ramon who was lounging in his rolling chair. 

“What are you babbling about Ramon?” 

“Whoa. Someone’s testy today. Caitlin should be back with some coffee soon. Can you hold it together till then?” Harrison rolled his eyes. He probably could but he was sure he would break the second she smiled at him. 

Speak of the devil. God she was beautiful. Something about the clear color of her eyes and the confident square of her shoulders. Harrison tried to compel his eyes to move back to the board but he found he couldn’t. His eyes were glued to her arms. Harrison kind of wished he had x-ray vision at that moment.

He needed to stop this. She didn’t want him and god knew that Harrison would only bring them both crashing to the ground. 

“Ooooo. Is that a number on your cup, you sly dog? Barista? Customer?” That caught Harrison’s attention. Caitlin had turned bright red and Harrison zeroed in on the number. Clear as day. As dark in ink as the markings that appeared on his arm. He wondered if he imagined Caitlin’s glance in his direction as she responded to Cisco’s teasing. 

“It’s nothing, Cisco. Now take your coffee before I pour it down the drain.” Ramon was out of his chair quicker than the Flash. Grabbing his coffee, Ramon thanked Caitlin and retreated to presumably add an ungodly amount of sugar to the concoction. Leaving Harrison and Caitlin alone. He was in his own personal hell. Or heaven depending on his viewpoint. 

“This is for you.” She held out the coffee to him but Harrison noticed she was doing everything in her power to avoid eye contact. She had been doing that a lot lately actually. She was giving him the very polite brush off obviously. Harrison could take a hint. 

“Thank you.” It came out gruffer than he intended and he noticed Snow shiver a little. Could he stop being awkward for ten seconds of social interaction? “Anyone special?” Apparently not. Caitlin looked down at the number and smiled. Damn. He wished that smile was directed at him. 

“Not really. Just reminded me of someone from a long time ago.” Clearly someone she cared deeply about. Harrison recalled Eliza mentioning a loved one who died young. He wondered how terribly he should feel for invading her privacy in this way. 

“Oh. Are you planning on seeing him again?” Her head ducked a bit and Harrison hated himself for the bristle of jealousy that had settled in the pit of his stomach. Suddenly, her head popped up and Harrison was looking at something bordering on teasing but genuine in her eyes. 

“Not sure. Why do you care, Harry?” And with that, everything became clearer. He saw her face under the porchlight. And in the parking lot. And at the kitchen table with Jesse. And sleeping so peacefully in his office that he almost forgot she was there. Because of course she was sleeping on his office couch and of course she was in his house. Of course she was in his life. She just belonged there.

He knew he wasn’t good for her but she was so good for him. And maybe, just maybe, he could be a better man for her. It was like an invisible force had been gripping his heart and in that moment they let go. He was ready and Harrison Wells was going to make Caitlin Snow fall in love with him if it was the last thing he did. 

In this new resolve, Harrison looked Caitlin straight in the eye. Walking as close as he dared, holding his cup of coffee like a lifeline, Harrison approached Caitlin. Caitlin’s teasing eyes disappeared and it was replaced with genuine confusion. That was fine. He could wait. 

“I care about you because you care about everyone else.” It was real. It was raw. It was like exposing a nerve to someone with a knife. Harrison watched as Caitlin’s face contorted from confusion to surprise. He took one more step and breathed deeply before allowing himself one more step. They were almost chest to chest now. Not unlike when he had threatened her job and she had yelled up at him. Things were so different now. 

Reaching up to her face, he brushed a stray hair from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. He smiled when she let out a little gasp. Her eyes widened but she didn’t pull away. It was a start. “Thank you for the coffee, Caitlin.” He savored her first name on his tongue. Not wanting to end the spell, he allowed himself to look into her eyes for a couple more seconds before essentially wrenching himself from their magnetic pull. With that, Harrison quickly turned and walked back towards his office. He refused to look back. He had done enough for today. He hadn’t felt this kind of resolve since Tess Morgan. Harrison Wells had a long night of planning ahead of him if he was going to win over Caitlin Snow. And possibly Eliza by proxy. 

And there in the cortex, Caitlin Snow was left with her mind reeling and her hand trying to preserve the feeling of warmth on her cheek.

Screw it. She was going to make Harrison Wells fall in love with her. And if that meant getting HG as well so be it.


End file.
